Economic Reforms in Nigeria

Abstract: Economic Reforms in Nigeria had been implemented through several steps like, structural reform, banking sector reform, power sector reform to name a few. The economical condition of Nigeria was very poor compared to any other underdeveloped country. Therefore, to improve the country's economic and fiscal conditions the Nigerian government introduced economic reform.

Economic Reforms in Nigeria had been introduced in 2003, that is, during the administration (second term) of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The reform program started on the basis of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy. The aim of the Nigerian government was to improve the macroeconomic environment and to control the public expenditure management. Stress also had been given on the structural reform.

Reasons Behind the Reform:

During 1999, most of the human development indicators of Nigeria were not good in comparison with the other least developed economies.

Nigeria depended strongly on the oil export business which led the country towards macroeconomic volatility, for the oil prices were not stable all the time.

The annual Gross Development Production had been decreasing for a long time, for example, during the period of 1992 - 2002 the average annual GDP growth was 2.25%.

Volatile fiscal spendings were making the the country's macroeconomic conditions unstable.

Private investments were not coming in this volatile economic environment, and the government's expenditure was raising.

The employment rate in Nigeria was low. Moreover, the domestic business climate was also getting worse because of this unstable economic situation.

The amount of domestic debt was increasing and so was the rate of inflation. In 1999, the inflation rate was 10.4%, whereas in 2003 it climbed up to 21.8%.

The Nigerian citizens average income per capita was very low, below 300 dollars.

Reform Step:

The reform program in Libya started under Prime Minister Shoukri Ghanem. The government attempted to privatize almost 360 state enterprises.

The government of Nigeria started some other reform programs to accelerate the economic reform process. These are: structural reform, institutional and governance reform and macroeconomic reform.

Moreover, the Nigerian government started to extend the reform process to the regional level. More stress had been given on the growth of several business other than oil to improve the domestic business climate.

Impact of Economic Reform:

The quality of social sector spendings improved a lot. The living standard of the citizens improved and employment rate increased to some extent.

Economic Reforms in Nigeria
Financial Sector Reform in Nigeria	Public Sector Reforms in Nigeria
Structural Reform in Nigeria	Banking Sector Reform in Nigeria
Power Sector Reforms in Nigeria	Telecommunication Market Reform in Nigeria