Nigeria Economy: World Bank, IMF, Others Publishing ‘Wild Estimates’ – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has called the attention of Nigerians to data being published by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other world bodies.

The President during his meeting with the recently-constituted economic council, warned Nigerians to be wary of some statistics from world bodies.

Buhari said that some of the data by the World Bank and other international bodies were wild estimates and inaccurate, adding that local institutions were better suited in the collation of records than foreign agencies.

“Today, most of the statistics quoted about Nigeria are developed abroad by the World Bank, IMF and other foreign bodies.

“Some of these statistics are wild estimates that bear little relation to the facts on the ground.

“We can only plan realistically when we have reliable data. As a government, we are taking very serious steps to improve the quality of data available for policymaking, and today I charged the Presidential Economic Advisory Council to prioritise the collection of primary data.

“We must domesticate our policies to reflect our local realities. While we very much welcome the cooperation and support we are getting from our friends abroad, it is important to make it clear that Nigeria can only truly move forward with homegrown solutions” Buhari said.