CPPE backs economic reforms scorecard, urges pivot toward productivity

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has commended the Minister of Finance for presenting the nation’s economic reform scorecard, describing the disclosure as a vital step toward transparency and reform credibility.

In a statement issued by the CPPE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Muda Yusuf welcomed the administration’s balanced assessment of both macroeconomic progress and the ongoing adjustment costs borne by businesses and citizens.

According to the policy think tank, recent structural measures have yielded measurable fiscal and macroeconomic improvements.

Nigeria’s real GDP growth accelerated to 3.89% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3.13% in the corresponding period of 2025. Alongside expanding trade surpluses and recovering investor confidence, the government has recorded stronger revenues, stabilized foreign-exchange markets, and bolstered external reserves.

However, the CPPE stressed that macroeconomic stability must serve as a foundation for broader economic relief rather than a final destination.

The transmission of these positive indicators into everyday life remains incomplete, with household purchasing power still strained while businesses struggle under heavy regulatory, energy, logistics, and financing expenses.

Dr. Yusuf emphasized that the next phase of the economic agenda must decisively target productivity, industrial competitiveness, and living standards.

The advocacy group also called for heightened accountability at the subnational level, pointing out that state governments have received significantly expanded fiscal allocations and improved internally generated revenues under the reforms.

Yusuf urged citizens to demand tangible development outcomes from state administrations in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, security, public transport, and rural infrastructure, cautioning against the diversion of funds into prestige projects or inflated recurrent expenditures.

Addressing supply-side bottlenecks, the CPPE highlighted persistent structural constraints across the real economy.

While manufacturing and agricultural sectors recorded modest growth rates of 3.29% and 3.15% respectively in Q1 2026, the electricity sector experienced a sharp contraction of 15.3%.

To overcome these hurdles, the group recommended calibrated trade protections for viable local industries, uninterrupted access to essential imported production inputs, and closer fiscal-monetary coordination to lower borrowing costs as inflation cools.

Warning against policy reversals, the CPPE maintained that abandoning the reforms would destabilize the currency market, erode hard-won fiscal stability, and trigger severe economic dislocations.

Instead, the group advised continuous recalibration of policy instruments to ease transitional burdens and translate fiscal health into sustainable job creation and shared prosperity.