The recent ban on importation of rice and cars by the Federal Government is likely to cause more economic hardship, an economic expert and lecturer at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Dr Godwin Nwaeke has warned.
Picking holes in some of the Federal Government’S economic policies, Dr. Nwaeke noted that failure to think through the policies may at the end defeat the aim and purpose.
For instance, he reasoned that before outrightly banning of highly consumed commodities, there should be improved capacity internally to produce, as failure to do so may at the end frustrate the success of such policies.
“The   country has no production capacity and so for you to ban the importation of certain goods, the local producer will have to produce more,” Nwaeke suggested.
The senior lecturer in the Department of Economics opined that the current economic situation is such that real income is poor, thus any policy of government not tailored towards creating wealth will impoverish the populace more.
Though he stated that trade restrictions will improve the economy if properly articulated especially by encouraging industrialisation and correct trade deficit, he argued that oftentimes such policies will negatively affect consumers if the needed environment is not provided.
Nwaeke further carpeted the recent increment of value added tax (VAT)to seven percent since the price of goods will go up and lead to inflation.
He suggested that instead of implementing such programmes the Federal Government should  work towards creating structures that will stimulate production capacity and cut down on recurrent expenditures and diversify.
Also, he stated that promotion of investments in other sectors will reduce emphasis on oil.