Alliance Urges Fiscal-Monetary Pact to Improve Nigerians’ Living Standards
The Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) has called for the newly signed fiscal and monetary coordination agreement between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to translate into lower poverty and improved living conditions for Nigerians.
In its policy commentary, “The Wedding of the Two Elephants,” AERE said the September 18 Memorandum of Understanding could strengthen cooperation between fiscal and monetary authorities through aligned economic assumptions, improved data sharing, coordinated government financing and joint efforts to manage inflation, while preserving the CBN’s operational independence.
The organisation acknowledged recent signs of economic improvement, including stronger GDP growth and improved external conditions, but stressed that headline stability has not yet translated into significant gains for many households. AERE pointed to weak growth in real GDP per capita and persistent poverty as evidence that the benefits of reform remain uneven.
AERE also identified the government’s rising debt-service burden and the concentration of bank assets in government securities as constraints on poverty reduction and private-sector credit. It recommended measures including a jointly published Poverty Reduction Impact Dashboard and a plan to reduce interest payments as a share of government revenue, with savings redirected toward food production, rural roads and primary healthcare.
Read the full story on The Guardian:
Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE)
From Impact to Insights.