BY Wasilat Azeez
Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the economy is in deep trouble.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the former vice-president described the country’s increasing debts as a “recipe for macroeconomic instability.”
Atiku flayed the federal government for being upbeat about the latest GDP growth rate despite the challenges confronting citizens.
“Last week the National Bureau of Statistics released the GDP figures for Q2 2022. The government has been unreasonably upbeat about the reported growth rate of 3.4 percent,” he tweeted said.
“The plain truth is that the economy is in deeper trouble than the APC-led government is willing to admit.
“The citizens’ level of misery hasn’t changed, and the reasons are obvious: first, the key sectors of the economy, notably agriculture, oil and gas (the country’s cash cow), and manufacturing (that contributes to jobs), are either growing slowly or declining.
“Second, unabated are rising commodity prices occasioned by high energy and transportation costs (and aggravated by the disorderliness in the forex market).
“Also, debt levels continue to rise while the fiscal capacity to service its debts is declining. All these are enough to erase the perceived gains from output growth.
“Having run out of ideas, it appears that our unprecedented level of indebtedness is whetting the government’s appetite for more debt. This is a recipe for macroeconomic instability.”
Atiku asked the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to share with the public their recent statistics on poverty, unemployment, and commodity prices.
He further pledged to halt the rate of debt accumulation and focus on private-public partnerships in financing development, if elected president.
“Also is the consideration of a government of national unity that will douse the temperature, unite Nigerians and pave the way for improved security. Improved security allows for investments and, therefore, an improved economy,” he added.
“Also targeted tax rebates to attract foreign and local investments, amongst other proactive measures to attract investments to grow the economy.”
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