Abuja Chamber says recession will last at least five years

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)has refused to shared in the optimism in some quarters  that the country would be out of the current economic recession confronting  it by the fourth quarter of this year.

The member of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) in a statement signed by its President, Mr. Tony Ejinkeonye argued that even with the right economic policies, it would take the country about five years to come out of the current crisis.

It further said that the current monetary and fiscal policies being implemented by the Federal Government were not capable of taking the country out of the current recession.

The organisation disagreed with the position of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who said that the country would start coming out of recession by the fourth quarter of this year.

The CBN boss while speaking with media executives in Lagos recently said, “We are already in the valley, the only direction is to go up the hill and the government is doing everything possible to ensure that we move up the hill.

“I am optimistic that based on the actions being taken by the monetary and fiscal authorities, the fourth quarter results will show evidence that we have started to move out of the recession. The worst is over. The Nigerian economy is on the path of recovery and growth.”

In its view, ACCI argued that even with the right economic policies, it would take the country about five years to come out of the current crisis.

The ACCI said in the statement that the chamber was of the view that the Federal Government had not put in place adequate measures to address the current economic challenges.

He said, “We have economic recession, economic recovery and economic boom. It takes a period of five years for a country to recover from recession before it can start talking of economic boom; that is, if the right measures are in place.

“We have yet to know the physical measures the government has put in place to enable us to know that we are on the right track. Even when the right decisions and policies are set out, we do not agree that recovery will come too soon.

“That means they have only one quarter to get us out of the recession that is so deep. We do not believe that. It will take a while longer.”

Ejinkeonye charged the government to open up to Nigerians on the real situation of things, adding that this was the only viable way for stakeholders in the economy to proffer workable solutions to the crisis.

According to him, “Thailand went into recession and it was just last year they came out of it. The Federal Government is either being economic with the truth or not telling us what is really happening.

“Government does not have structures on ground to suggest that we will come out of recession any time soon. I do not think it is going to happen.”