Buharinomics: The Maths of Matching 2017 Expectation is Scary By lloydatiku

As the harmattan dust sweeps across Nigeria, the outlook for the economy is looking hairy.
The head of steam dragging the economy along for the greater part of the decade is losing traction, and many are marking down their forecasts on signs that President Buhari’s economic team lacks the intellectual know how to steer the country out of recession.


The President, in turn, is now talking up the potentials of the economy after spending the larger part of 2015 talking it down.

He is now learning the hard way- Voters can buy hope and vote for you- but investors are not hope riders- rather, they are brutal money makers.

Last year, Mr President sold Nigeria the Keynesians line- Infrastructure spendings will boost consumption, create jobs and turn the steep charts up a little..

Mr Fowler of Federal Inland Revenue Service will do the unimaginable and investors will fall over themselves to get a bit of the Nigerian action.

The Treasury Single Account was the golden bullet.

When you subject Mr President’s infrastructure spending to the buzzsaw, The breakdown is disheartening. Scattered across without a cogent purpose.

Borrowing massively and Investing in 1846 railway technology is not only a waste of resources but also a sin against our children. How about a Maglev from Lagos to Ibadan?

The Expectation for 2017 is simple. The government will learn from the mistakes of 2016, lower tax rates, deliver a 5-year development plan, align fiscal, trade and monetary policy, design a realistic expenditure plan, fix the exchange rate policy, help up manufacturers and begin massive mechanisation in farms.

Fast forward, We are back at it.

2017, The President is replaying his 2016 thinking. Unachievable revenue projections and unimaginable deficit numbers. The Government is even afraid to publish expenditure breakdown.

President Buhari, his budgeting, Finance, economic and planning team are becoming a lightning example of “bad” economic managers- no disrespect.

Going forward we need to reset our thinking and put the economy before anything.
For Investors and forward-looking people- it is time to pray.

2017 may turn out to be a fantastic year for some, but the trend of things to come is increasingly scary.

We all want the economy to climb out of recession- but the fiscal and monetary authority are not willing, able or ready to drop the rope.