THE Federal Government has said that all the major problems bedevilling theNigerian economy will besolved within the next four years,
as it begins preparations for the budget 2012 fiscal year.
Minister of Finance and coordinator of the Economic Management Team (EMT), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made the submission on Wednesday in Abuja while unfolding the economic blueprint for the country.
The minister, who began her speech on the premise that the economic blueprint of Nigeria was in the Vision 20:2020 and the Transforming Nigeria documents, as encapsulated by President Goodluck Jonathan, stated, however, that the EMT had a medium term programme built aroundthe Vision 2020 which would soon be unfolded to the public when it was ready.
In the yet to be unfolded medium term programme, Dr Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that the emphasis was on creating jobs and providing immense opportunities for the youth.
Because of the vagariesof other world economies, the ministersaid Nigeria had to learn how to manage its economy well by being focused and working harder.
She said that as an individual, she had no magic wand to solve the country’s economic problems as being suggested in some quarters, stressing, however, that with the support of all stakeholders, all the major economic problems would be a thing of the past in the next four years before the end of the Jonathanpresidency.
Okonjo-Iweala, who stated that the problems of the Nigerian economy could not be solved overnight,stated that oil price volatility was currently the major concern of the Federal Government.
To address this concern, she said the government put in placeoil price-based fiscal rule, which was expected to make available some funds for a rainy day.
She expressed great apprehension about the country’s budget culture, where a budgetthat was passed by theNational Assembly did not resemble the one sent to it by the president, saying that this attitude must change.
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