NEC advocates legislative reform for national competitiveness

The National Economic Council (NEC) has emphasised the need for a national legislative reform agenda for national competitiveness.

Director Information, Office of the Vice President, Mr Olusola Abiola made this known in a statement issue at the end of 135th meeting of NEC, chaired by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that it was essential that Nigeria resolves the legislative binding constraints to national competitiveness.

“The National Economic Summit Group (NESG), through our partnership with the National Assembly and the Nigerian Bar Association, has identified over 115 legislations that hindered growth in the last few years, 10 legislations have been passed, including the CAMA 2020 and the PIA 2021.”

He said that NEC commended NESG for its presentation, especially on pragmatic roadmaps for tackling current economic challenges.

“It was noted that the recommendations contained in the NESG’s roadmap needs to be reviewed to align with existing economic agenda at the national and sub-national levels for pragmatic purposes.

“Investment inflows have dwindled since 2019, likewise the country’s investment/GDP ratio; Crude Oil exports and refined petroleum products imports dominate Nigeria’s trade structure.

“Nigeria’s Naira position against major trading currencies deteriorated. Weak forex supply and heightened demand for imports remains core drivers of exchange rate instability.

“Market volatility persists despite recent forex alignment, driven by pressure on forex demand that widens the gap between official and parallel market rates due to inadequate supply and speculative tendencies.

“External reserves remain under pressure as external reserves fell by 8.3 per cent from N37.1 billion in January 2023 to N33.9 billion in July 2023.”