The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has said that the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector to drive more crude production, increase domestic refining capacity, and reduce fuel importation will improve oil revenue to support budget aspirations and projections.
The Director General of LCCI, Dr Chinyere Almona who made this statement in her presentation tagged “Beyond the Forecasts Resetting Nigeria’s Economic Compass” urged the federal government to start the implementation of the recommended tax reforms, driven by a better tax administration system.
She said “in the face of fragile economic conditions in Nigeria, we must prioritize a better-managed fiscal policy environment that drives public debt reduction, creating bigger buffers to accommodate the likely increase in defence spending pressures and trade-related shocks to the economy in the short term.
She said with crude oil revenue under attack from falling prices, the government should get stricter with cutting the cost of governance within adjusted budget assumptions that reflect current realities.
She pointed out that In a scenario of projected global public debt reaching 117 percent of GDP by 2027, the highest level since World War II, Nigeria’s current debt level is close to attaining this projection if nothing drastic is done to reduce the value and cost of borrowing within the short term.
On the inflationary pressure, she expressed the need for Nigeria to invest more in infrastructure that drives the productive real sector of the economy, noting that food inflation has remained the major driver of the headline inflation rate for almost two years.
Expressing the need to review and reprioritize the 2025 budget assumptions to reflect a lower oil revenue expectation, she said that this should also call for necessary and critical adjustments to non-essential recurrent expenditures and non-productive subsidies.
To intensify our non-oil export promotion, the government should provide incentives to empower high-growth sectors like solid minerals, the creative industry, and the digital economy.
We can boost agricultural production and agro-processing through targeted investments in local fertilizer production, highly subsidized extension services, tech-driven irrigation, and value chain infrastructure.
To drive inclusive economic growth, we need to boost access to microfinance, improve and stabilize power supply, and drive regulatory reforms that support MSMEs and local manufacturing for job creation, revenue generation, and economic growth