FG moves to end conflicting economic projections
By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
The Federal Government, on Monday, moved to eliminate conflicting economic projections by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), setting up a high-powered inter-agency committee to harmonise the macroeconomic assumptions that underpin national budgeting and economic planning.
The decision was one of the major outcomes of the meeting of the Economic Management Team (EMT), chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, in Abuja.
The committee is expected to align key economic assumptions, including crude oil price and production benchmarks, exchange rate, inflation, and non-oil revenue projections used by fiscal and monetary authorities, with a view to improving budget credibility and economic policy coordination.
The move followed findings from a joint budget retreat and technical validation workshop which attributed part of the country’s budget under-performance to inconsistent macroeconomic assumptions adopted by different government institutions, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance.
The committee will also address discrepancies in the reporting of key economic indicators within government and in official communications to investors, development partners and the public.
The EMT also approved measures to strengthen its governance framework by expanding its mandate to include regular reviews of macroeconomic performance, deeper fiscal-monetary policy coordination, monitoring of the Renewed Hope Agenda and periodic assessment of the Federal Government’s financing needs.
As part of the reforms, the EMT will now meet monthly instead of periodically, while the Federal Ministry of Finance has been designated the coordinating custodian of Nigeria’s official economic data, with relevant agencies supplying sector-specific information for harmonised public releases.
The Team expressed optimism over improving economic fundamentals, noting that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, the strongest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2024.
It also noted that the country’s external reserves had risen above $54 billion, the highest level in almost 18 years, while the naira has appreciated to the N1,300/$ range, its strongest level in about two years.
The EMT further highlighted Nigeria’s recent return to FTSE Russell’s Frontier Market Index, effective September 21, 2026, describing the development as a major boost to investor confidence and international visibility for the nation’s capital market.
According to the Team, Nigeria’s public debt remains below 40 per cent of GDP, while Moody’s recently upgraded the country’s sovereign credit outlook from stable to positive.
The EMT also reviewed strategies aimed at positioning agriculture as a major driver of the Federal Government’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
The strategy includes reducing post-harvest losses, expanding mechanisation and agro-processing, strengthening export compliance, recapitalising the Bank of Agriculture, creating a new smallholder credit window and raising agriculture’s share of private sector credit to 10 per cent by 2030.
In addition, the Team assessed Nigeria’s preparations to host the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) 2026 and the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2027 in Lagos, directing the Ministry of Finance to coordinate funding and customs facilitation in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
On the decisions reached at the meeting, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, was quoted as saying, “Today’s decisions tighten the link between the numbers we plan with and the actual outturns. A single, harmonised set of assumptions across the fiscal and monetary authorities means fewer surprises in the budget and more credible planning for investors and all Nigerians.”
The post FG moves to end conflicting economic projections appeared first on Vanguard News.