Nigeria’s economy prioritises macroeconomics over human development — Kingsley Moghalu

Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said in an Arise Television Newsnight programme on Monday that one of the major reasons why the majority of Nigerians are living in extreme poverty is because the government focuses more attention on its macroeconomic fundamentals than its human development.

Moghalu described it as unacceptable that the country’s political leadership drives more resources towards achieving positive macroeconomic indicators such as inflation, unemployment, and several others while ignoring the importance of life.

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“We tend to focus more on macroeconomics and ignore human development. So, you find poverty increasing while we are very concerned with the GDP growth rate,” Moghalu said.

The former CBN deputy governor urged the government to place more priority on improving the living standard of Nigerians, especially on things that can improve their productivity, such as good healthcare facilities and lots more.

On fixing the country’s economic challenges, Moghalu admitted that it has become too overwhelming that “we do not understand how to fix it and we have made some very important mistakes.”