Nigeria is in a ‘very terrible state of development’ —Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday decried the vulnerable nature of the Nigerian economy as well as the infrastructural deficit.

The president, who spoke during a virtual meeting with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), urged the council to do more to help the country to exit its “very terrible state of development.”

Buhari, according to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, lamented that Nigeria, a country crippled by serious infrastructure deficit, lack of housing and a vulnerable economy, was now being haunted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said: “We are a country characterised by a large population of poor people, serious infrastructure deficit, lack of housing and a vulnerable economy now haunted by the COVID-19 pandemic and collapse of the oil sector and its effect on the Gross Domestic Product.”

In his presentation to the President, the chairman of the PEAC, Prof. Doyin Salami, commended the Federal Government for implementing many of council’s recommendations.

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He also presented the government with a number of tough choices to make in order to put the country’s economy on a higher growth path.

Salami specifically expressed delight with the ongoing review of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the 2020 Budget in view of the disruptions caused by COVID-19.

He also lauded the deregulation of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit; approval for the implementation of the Oronsaye Report on the need to rationalise and restructure federal ministries, departments, and agencies; as well as the adjustment of the exchange rate of the naira.

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