By Ken Afor
The proposed N27.5 trillion 2024 budget presented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Thursday has been generating divergent views from economic analysts with one of those being that of prominent economist, Bismarck Rewane.
Rewane, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, in an interview on Thursday on Channels Television, asserted that if the prices of fundamental commodities such as rice, bread and garri do not decrease, Nigerians will not take an interest in budgetary figures.
According to the economist, if in the coming months there is no reduction in prices of basic commodities the budgetary figures quoted by the president will be of no use to Nigerians adding that the most important thing is how does the budget affect people’s day-to-day living.
His words: “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 at N900 a big loaf instead of N1,300, which we are doing today; if we are buying garri at lower prices.
“The people are not interested in whether the budget is balanced or what the debt is. How does it (the budget) affect their day-to-day livelihood? That is the key thing.”
At his first budget statement to the National Assembly, President Tinubu declared the N27.5 trillion 2024 financial plan will guarantee microeconomic balance, cut down on poverty, and furnish more open doors for social wellbeing.
The president underlined key areas like security, job creation, macro-economic stability, improving the investment environment, developing human capital, decreasing poverty, and providing social security.
He set recurrent non-debt expenditure at N9.92 trn, capital expenditure at N8.73 trn, debt service at N8.25 trn, revenue at N18.32 trn, new borrowings at N7.83 trn, and a deficit of N9.18 trn.
However, Rewane, after analysing the budget proposal, concluded that the population is not preoccupied with figures, but desires to feel the ramifications of the government’s economic plans due to the numerous individuals who are struggling.
He said: “And as you know, prices are up and people are under tremendous pressure,” adding that the rate of poverty in the country is driving people mad.
“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. There are many mental health issues. People are pushed to the wall. Some of them walk across the road, even in moving traffic.
“People need to feel the impact. The impact is not going to be felt because of 10 or 12% of GDP, that is, N27 trillion; it has to be more. Where is the money going to come from?
“It’s going to come from investors, and investors are going to come here when they are sure that their money’s safe and the environment is clean, and they can look forward to a brighter future.”
He argued that the government must be candid with the populace about the economic conditions and that truthfulness is lacking.
He said, “You can fake news, but you can’t fake prosperity.”
