Renowned economist Bismarck Rewane has underscored that Nigerians are more preoccupied with the prices of essential commodities, such as rice, bread, and garri, than intricate budgetary numbers.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Business Morning show on Thursday, Rewane, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, emphasized the public’s focus on the cost of basic necessities over complex budget figures.
“In the end, budgetary arithmetics, budgetary mathematics in economics is of no use to anybody except when by this time, six months’ time if we are buying rice at N40,000 a bag rather than N60,000 a bag if we are buying bread N900 a big loaf instead of N1,300 which we are doing today. If we are buying garri at lower prices,” he expressed.
Rewane highlighted the public’s primary interest in the tangible impact of economic policies on their daily lives, stating, “The people are not interested in whether the budget is balanced and what the debt is. How does it (the budget) affect their day-to-day livelihood? That is the key thing.”
During President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural budget presentation before the National Assembly, he outlined the proposed N27.5 trillion 2024 budget, emphasizing micro-economic stability, poverty reduction, and increased access to social security. The budget allocates funds to priority areas such as security, local job creation, macro-economic stability, investment environment optimization, human capital development, poverty reduction, and social security.
Providing a detailed breakdown of the budget estimates, President Tinubu outlined recurrent non-debt expenditure at N9.92 trillion, capital expenditure at N8.73 trillion, debt service at N8.25 trillion, revenue at N18.32 trillion, new borrowings at N7.83 trillion, and deficit at N9.18 trillion.
Analyzing the budget proposal, Rewane expressed that, ultimately, people are concerned with experiencing the impact of government economic policies amid increasing economic pressure and mental health issues driven by rising poverty rates.
“You will notice that on the streets of Lagos in particular, the number of lunatics has increased and part of it is driven by poverty. Many mental health issues. People are pushed to the wall. Some of them walk across the road even in moving traffic,” he noted.
Rewane emphasized the importance of honesty from the government regarding economic realities, stating that “honesty is in short supply” and urging a transparent acknowledgment of challenges. He concluded that prosperity cannot be feigned, emphasizing the need for a secure and conducive environment to attract investors and foster a brighter economic future.
