By Onyebuchi Ezigbo
The seven-man Economic Sustainability Committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has requested federal government’s key revenue reporting agencies to submit their performance reports, THISDAY has learnt.
It was also gathered that the committee planned to submit the first stage of its report to President Muhammadu Buhari within the next two weeks.
The economic policy implementation team was given the task to articulate urgent measures that could lead the country’s economy out of the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of its assignments, THISDAY learnt, is to articulate and coordinate the implementation of economic programmes and projects that would help the country’s economy to survive after COVID-19.
One of the immediate challenges that face the country’s economy is the sharp drop in oil revenue.
THISDAY gathered that the committee had swung into action by requesting for situation reports from all the key revenue reporting agencies of the federal government.
A source at the Federal Ministry of Finance, who was privy to the recent meeting of the committee, told THISDAY at the weekend that the committee asked for reports from Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Maritime Authority and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), among others.
“The committee had met to prepare a roadmap on how to go about their assignment.
Presently, they are receiving reports from revenue agencies, the major ones of which are NNPC and CBN. They are working to submit the first stage of their report to the president within two weeks,” the source said.
Other key revenue agencies which the committee expected their performance reports include non-oil sector revenue yielding agencies.
THISDAY was informed that members of the economic team met for a second time recently to study some of the reports already obtained and to prepare a preliminary recommendation to be submitted to the president within two weeks.
The seven-man economic sustainability committee was set up as a response to the recent challenges in the economic front resulting from the fall in the prices of oil in the international market as well as the disruptive impact of the pandemic that has disrupted the global economy.
The committee is made up of Ministers of Finance, Budget and Planning; Industry, Trade and Investment; Labour and Employment; Minister of State Petroleum Resources; CBN Governor; NNPC Group Managing Director and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat who serves as secretary of the committee.
One of the immediate tasks given to the economic team is to manage the economy, especially the post-COVID-19 era till 2023.
