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The Center for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) said the Nigerian economy is not yet ripe for complete deregulation.
CPPE said this in a statement by CEO Muda Yusuf in response to the increase in petrol pump prices.
Yusuf condemned the recent rise in petrol prices, calling it “ill-timed and insensitive” to Nigeria’s prevailing economic challenges.
He said the federal government should consider social, economic and political factors in policy decisions rather than focusing solely on commercial interests.
Yusuf said the price increase was unfortunately ill-timed and did not take into account the current difficult economic situation.
“It is important to emphasize that social, economic and political considerations are important in policy choices. Commercial considerations should not completely override these considerations,” he said. said.
“Nigeria’s economy is not yet ripe for serious deregulation and market forces on all fronts.
“The social costs of such policy choices are typically very high. Social safety nets are extremely weak in this economy. More than 100 million people are trapped in various forms of poverty. .”
Yusuf said the country also faces the challenge of “policy sequencing”.
He said the government would have been better off implementing the Economic Stabilization Act before introducing the petrol price hike.
“The current government has submitted an economic stabilization bill to Congress,” he said.
“This bill is expected to bring some relief to the public and businesses. It would have been better if the proposed relief measures were activated and gained momentum before we came up with the idea of increasing gas prices.
“What the economy needs at this time are measures to alleviate current economic and social challenges, not policies that make them worse.”
Mr. Yusuf also called for an urgent reduction in import duties and taxes on all industrial raw materials by at least 25% and fixing the customs exchange rate at a maximum of N1000 per dollar in order to reduce the current exorbitant import costs. Recommendations were made to the government.
“The relevant laws should be amended to that effect. This does not undermine the fiscal policies contained in the economic stabilization plan,” Yusuf said.
“Governments need to be prepared to sacrifice some revenue in the current situation.”
“We need to maximize the welfare function of the people and the productivity function of companies.”
Yusuf also stressed that the government should not be obsessed with maximizing revenue.
