11 Things experts say must be done now to get out of recession

The recently held 2016 Independ­ent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) Triennial Del­egates Conference/Gala Night in Lagos provided an opportunity for finan­cial experts to come to­gether to air their views about how best Nigeria can lift her economy from the current reces­sion. From the com­ments of speakers, the following points were gathered.

1. Government must raise funds from multinational agencies, reduce interest rate and debt servicing to achieve the desired growth- Mr Bismarck Rewane, Chief Executive Officer, Finan­cial Derivatives Ltd.

2. An expansion in credit supply and reduc­tion of the Cash Reverse Requirement (CRR) for banks to lend to the real sector- Mr Bismarck Re­wane, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Deriv­atives Ltd.

3. Effective pow­er sector should be achieved as it is para­mount for the growth and development of oth­er sectors of the econ­omy- Mr Arnold Ekpe, former Group Manag­ing Director, Ecobank Transnational

4. Redundant assets could be concessioned to bring the country out of recession- Mr Bismarck Rewane, Chief Executive Officer, Financial Deriv­atives Ltd.

5. Government and regulators should work together to deepen the nation’s bourse- Mr Ar­nold Ekpe, former Group Managing Director, Eco­bank Transnational

6. Public schools, hospitals and public hos­pitals need to be more efficient and effective to reduce pressure on for­eign exchange- Mr Bis­marck Rewane, Chief Executive Officer, Finan­cial Derivatives Ltd.

7. Tax rebate and tax holidays should be provided for local indus­tries to encourage local manufacturers- Mr Ike­chukwu Kelikume of the Lagos Business School

8. Government needs to reflate the econ­omy through infrastruc­ture development to create economic activi­ties- Mr Arnold Ekpe, former Group Manag­ing Director, Ecobank Transnational

9. A balance in monetary and fiscal policy for the country should be achieved to move forward- Mr Ike­chukwu Kelikume of the Lagos Business School

10. Government must promote the non-oil export sector to in­crease the country’s export revenue- Mr Ike­chukwu Kelikume of the Lagos Business School

11. Reduction in the cost of governance as the Nigerian political system is very expensive- Dr Erastus Akingbola, for­mer Managing Director, defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc.