Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, has inaugurated a Technical Working Group (TWG) on Macroeconomic Framework and Growth Diagnostics for the Development of Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2021-2025).
Inaugurating the group through a virtual forum, the Minister said the initiatives were designed to succeed in the current Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017 – 2020) respectively.
He said the framework would address development challenges in all aspects of the country’s national life within the agreed time horizon.
Prince Agba stated that the inauguration of the group became imperative given the fact that the existing plans were expected to lapse in December 2020 and the 2021 Budget was to be guided by the Framework.
‘’Therefore, there is limited time to deliver on the task at hand’,’ the Minister said.
In selecting members of the Group who were drawn from relevant ministries, parastatals, and the private sector, Prince Agba informed that individual wealth of experience, expertise, and dedication to national assignment over the years was considered.
The Group has the following terms of reference, to wit: prepare a robust and broad-based Macroeconomic Framework to facilitate the development of the Nigeria Agenda 2050 and Medium Term National Development Plan (MTNDP 2020-2025); improve on the work of the technical staff of the Ministry with necessary adjustments; and, consider existing macroeconomic models for the Nigerian economy, identify and employ the right model or a mix of models for the preparation of the Macroeconomic framework.
The Group is also expected to conduct proper growth diagnostics on the Nigerian economy, taking into consideration the current and future global and local economic peculiarities; review the assumptions, parameters, and forecasts used for previous macroeconomic frameworks that guided the Medium Term Plans and Annual Budgets and make necessary adjustments in line with current realities; consult relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies for the needed data and validate the ones collated by the Ministry, among others.
Earlier in her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Olusola Idowu, hinted that the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and Planning had identified 26 broad and key thematic areas of the economy on which TWGs had been set up.
She noted that the Macroeconomic framework and Growth Diagnostics had been recognized as the fulcrum upon which the work of all other TWGs would depend, adding that the work and output of the Group would determine how complete and robust the plans being envisaged by Government would be.
Idowu, therefore, charged members of the Group to deploy their wealth of experience, skills, and expertise in delivering a robust Macroeconomic Framework.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the Chairman of the 30-member TWG, who is also the Special Adviser to President (Economic Matters) Office of the Vice President, Ambassador Adeyemi Dipeolu, appreciated the Ministry for appointing them for the very important national assignment.
He, however, appealed to the Secretariat to provide the necessary logistics needed for the successful execution of the assignment.
