NEEDS: FG Seeks Credible Data for Implementation
From Cletus Akwaya in Abuja
The success of the Federal Government's reform programme, National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) is largely dependent on availability of credible macro-economic data, the Economic Adviser to President, Prof. Ode Ojowu, has said.
Ojowu, who inaugurated a Standing Committee on Macroeconomic Data in Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, said activities of the body would give credibility to the reform programme of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"With the establishment of this committee, it should be possible for us to accelerate the process of information sharing through networking and ensure increased credibility and consistency of data," Ojowu noted.
The Economic Adviser, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, National Planning Commission, Dr. Mohammed Babangida Aliyu, advised the committee to take advantage of existing programmes like the Integrated Financial and Economic Management Information System (IFEMIS), being funded under the multi-donor economic management capacity building project domiciled in the Multilateral Institutions Department, Federal Ministry of Finance. Such programmes, he mentioned, are being extended to the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) by the Department for Foreign and International Development (DFID) in respect of the National Accounts Statistics.
He charged the committee to pay attention to on-going reforms in the various institutions with a view to deriving necessary synergy as well as the role and structure of the Federal Office of Statistics and the "fundamental issues of the Statistical Act of 1957 and the sustainability of the statistical system."
The Economic Adviser outlined the terms of reference of the committee to include "to address the issues which affect the poor state of macroeconomic data in Nigeria; to develop measures that will ensure data consistency across key sectors particularly measures for authenticating economic and financial indicators, fiscal accounts and other related indices and make recommendations relevant to the overall improvement of statistics in the economy.
The committee has as members, representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Planning Commission, Federal Office of Statistics, and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Budget Office of the Federation, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Debt Management Office ( DMO).
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