EMT Sets Up Committee To Harmonise Nigeria’s Macroeconomic Projections

Nigeria’s Economic Management Team (EMT) has approved the establishment of an inter-agency committee to harmonise the macroeconomic assumptions used by government agencies in budgeting and economic planning.

The committee will align key projections including crude oil prices and production volumes, exchange rates, inflation and non-oil revenue across fiscal and monetary authorities.

The decision was taken at the EMT meeting held in Abuja on Monday, September 7, 2026, according to a statement issued by the Secretariat of the Economic Management Team under the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The committee will also address inconsistencies in the way key economic indicators are reported within government, to external stakeholders and the general public.

The EMT said the move followed a joint budget retreat and technical validation workshop which identified inconsistent assumptions among government agencies as one of the factors contributing to budget under-performance.

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Commenting on the decision, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy said harmonising the assumptions would improve the credibility of government planning.

“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.

The EMT also reviewed the state of the economy, with the team noting that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth reached 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026.

According to the statement, the figure represented Nigeria’s strongest quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2024.

The team was also briefed that external reserves had risen above $54 billion in early September 2026, the highest level in nearly 18 years based on Central Bank of Nigeria data.

The naira, according to the EMT, had also strengthened to its firmest level in about two years, trading in the N1,300 range to the US dollar in early September.

The team further noted that FTSE Russell had reclassified Nigeria from “Unclassified” to “Frontier Market” status, with the new classification scheduled to take effect from the market opening on September 21, 2026.

The reclassification would mark Nigeria’s return to the index after about three years and is expected to improve the visibility of Nigerian equities among international investors.

The EMT was also briefed that public debt remained below 40 per cent of GDP, while Nigeria’s sovereign credit outlook from Moody’s had moved from stable to positive.

The team said Nigeria’s economy, measured in purchasing-power-parity terms, stood at more than $2.2 trillion, describing the figure as an indication of the country’s potential to move towards a $1 trillion nominal GDP by 2030.

The team also approved a revised Terms of Reference expanding its mandate to include macroeconomic performance reviews, stronger fiscal and monetary coordination, monitoring of Renewed Hope Agenda priorities and periodic assessment of the Federal Government’s financing needs.

Under the revised arrangement, the EMT will meet monthly, with at least two strategic sector reviews expected at each sitting.

To improve the reliability and consistency of official statistics, the Ministry of Finance was designated as the coordinating custodian for national economic data.

Line agencies will remain responsible for their respective datasets, which will serve as inputs for coordinated public releases.

The EMT also reviewed a strategy aimed at increasing agriculture’s contribution to the government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

The strategy includes measures to reduce post-harvest losses, expand processing and mechanisation, improve export compliance and ensure the timely release of capital ahead of planting seasons.

The team also reviewed financing measures for the agricultural sector, including the planned recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture and the introduction of a new credit window for smallholder farmers.

It also set a target of increasing agriculture’s share of private-sector credit to about 10 per cent by 2030.

The EMT reviewed preparations for Nigeria to host the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) in November 2026 and the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in November 2027 in Lagos.

Both events are expected to attract exhibitors and international buyers, while the IATF is also expected to draw African heads of state.

The Ministry of Finance was tasked with coordinating funding and customs facilitation for the events, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.

The ministries are expected to develop a consolidated action plan with designated ministerial officials responsible for implementation.