Date: 2016-10-27

A Professor of Economics, Halidu Abubakar, says the only way to national economic recovery is for the Federal Government to inject foreign exchange into the economy.

Abubakar, who is also the Emir of Ilesha-Baruba in Kwara, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Wednesday. According to him, the problem with the national economy is in its monetary and financial policies rather than the much focused fiscal policy.

The retired university lecturer said that the government had not really come up with a policy that would address the economic issue.

He criticised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approach to addressing the current challenges, describing as a "trial and error approach". According to him, government will need to inject foreign exchange to stimulate the economy, if Nigeria must come out of the crisis.

"The problem is more on monetary policy; monetary policy in the sense that we have a fluctuating naira to the dollar and other currencies. "I don't think the government itself really knows what monetary policy it needs to put in place; we shouldn't tell ourselves lies.

"Everybody is trying; the CBN is doing a trial and error approach. So, there is a fundamental problem in each monetary and financial policy.

"Fiscal policy; government spending, tariff taxation and so forth, I think in these areas, government is on top of the situation. "But the problem is not fiscal problem, it is rather monetary and financial problem."

The monarch urged the Federal Government to source for foreign exchange by all means and put it into the economy.

"Unfortunately, this solution would not sound or make economy logic. "The fiscal policy of throwing money into the economy doesn't really make economic logic because it has to be accomplished by productivity.

"The channel for getting foreign exchange has been through crude oil sales. But the price is falling; so, we have problem in getting foreign exchange. "Government has to look for foreign exchange from any source and put it into the economy.

"Government should be ready to put more dollars into the economy. I don't know how they are going to do it. "But once they begin to do that, the action will stimulate the economy." The retired Ahmadu Bello University lecturer also expressed support for the idea to sell of national assets.

He, however, said that only assets he described as "toxic" should be put up for sale. The economist further advised Nigerians to adjust their lifestyle, saying that there was indication that the country would get out of the recession soon.NAN