Barbara Bako, Abuja.
The Federal Government’s Economic Management Team (EMT) has approved the establishment of an inter-agency committee to harmonise Nigeria’s macroeconomic assumptions for budgeting and economic planning, in a move aimed at improving policy coordination, strengthening fiscal credibility, and accelerating growth across key sectors of the economy.
The decision was taken at the EMT meeting held in Abuja on Monday, where members reviewed the country’s macroeconomic outlook, agriculture, trade, investment, manufacturing, and preparations for two major continental trade events to be hosted by Nigeria.
The committee will align critical assumptions such as crude oil price and production benchmarks, exchange rate, inflation, and non-oil revenue projections used by fiscal and monetary authorities.
According to the EMT Secretariat, the initiative follows findings from a joint budget retreat and technical validation exercise, which identified inconsistent projections across government agencies as a major contributor to budget under-performance.
The EMT noted that Nigeria’s economic performance has continued to improve, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanding by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026 the strongest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2024.
The team was also briefed that Nigeria’s external reserves have climbed above 54 billion dollars, the highest level in nearly 18 years, while the naira has strengthened to its firmest level in about two years, trading in the N1,300 range to the US dollar.
It further highlighted Nigeria’s return to the FTSE Russell Frontier Market Index, effective September 21, 2026, describing the reclassification as a major boost to the visibility of Nigerian equities among international investors.
The EMT also noted that the country’s public debt remains below 40 per cent of GDP, while Moody’s has upgraded Nigeria’s sovereign credit outlook from stable to positive.
To improve economic governance, the team approved revised Terms of Reference that expand its mandate to include regular reviews of macroeconomic performance, stronger fiscal and monetary coordination, monitoring of the Renewed Hope Agenda, and periodic assessments of the Federal Government’s financing needs.
The EMT will now meet monthly, with at least two strategic sector reviews at every sitting.
As part of efforts to achieve Nigeria’s ambition of building a 1 trillion-dollar economy by 2030, the EMT reviewed measures to boost agriculture through improved mechanisation, reduced post-harvest losses, expanded agro-processing, stronger export compliance, and timely funding for farmers.
It also considered plans to recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture, introduce a new smallholder credit window, and increase agriculture’s share of private-sector credit to 10 per cent by 2030.
The team equally assessed Nigeria’s readiness to host the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) 2026 and the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2027 in Lagos, with the Ministry of Finance directed to coordinate funding and customs facilitation alongside the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Speaking after the meeting, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy said the decisions would strengthen the credibility of government planning by ensuring fiscal and monetary authorities work with a single set of macroeconomic assumptions.
“Today’s decisions tighten the link between the numbers we plan with and the actual outturns. A single, harmonised set of assumptions across the fiscal and monetary authorities means fewer surprises in the budget and more credible planning for investors and all Nigerians,” the minister said.
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