The Covid-19 pandemic changed the 2020 global economic outlook. Countries across the globe now battle various levels of economic challenges and also brace up for more unforeseen challenges.
The World Bank in the June 2020 Global Economic Prospects said the Covid-19 Pandemic has done no small damage to prospects for growth. The bank forecasted a 5.2 percent contraction in global GDP in the year. The bank warned that the deep recessions that may be triggered by the pandemic are expected to leave lasting scars through lower investment, erosion of human capital through lost work and schooling, fragmentation of global trade and supply leakages.
The bank advised countries like Nigeria and others facing daunting vulnerabilities to strengthen public Health systems address the challenges posed by informality, and implement reforms that will support strong and sustainable growth once the health crisis abates.
The Brookings had in 2019 said Nigeria hosts the largest population of poor persons in the world, and the Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics in a report in May, said the country has 40 percent of its population living below the poverty line. With this reality on ground in the face of the global pandemic, President Muhammadu Buhari in March sets up an inter-ministerial Economic Sustainability Committee headed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, to recommend measures that would prevent further economic collapse.
The Committee, submitting its report in June warned that unless something urgent is done, 39.4 million jobs may be lost, pushing more people into poverty.
The Committee therefore recommended that the government embarked on mass job creation to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic. It also recommended the expansion of the Social Investment Programme through an increase in the number cash transfer beneficiaries, N-Power volunteers and sundry traders enjoying small and micro loans through the MarketMoni and TraderMoni schemes.
The ESC suggested that the implementation of the plan should be supervised by each minister that has the plan situated in its ministry.
As part of fiscal stimulus measures to help cushion the negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Nigerians, the FG has commenced the process of recruiting 1000 youth in each 774 Local Government Areas in the country. This among other various move of the government is commendable and should be implemented to the latter.
IMPACT NEWS however nurses the fear that the implementation of these various economic stimulus programmes of the government may be hijacked by the politicians who would dispense the benefits only to their cronies. The face-off between the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, and the National Assembly at a recent Committee meeting fueled this fear.
We call on President Buhari to ensure effective implementation of all fiscal stimulus programmes to ensure that substantial numbers of Nigerians already in the poverty bracket are lifted out of it in line with his administration’s commitment to lift 10 million Nigerians out of poverty.
