Posted by With the elimination of the gasoline subsidy and the harmonisation of currency rates, the Federal Government (FG) has made it clear that it has no plan to borrow money from any domestic or international institution.
This information was made public by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, at the conclusion of the first Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
“The federal government is not in a position to borrow at this time,” Edun declared.
He said that the benefit of the subsidy elimination would be invested back into a number of industries in order to increase government revenue and enhance the business climate for both domestic and foreign investment.
According to Edun, a number of palliatives have been made available to lessen the impact on a short-, medium-, and long-term basis thanks to the additional money from subsidy elimination.
He added that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to rescuing the economy from the predicament it has been in for some time.
In essence, we through a process of examining the state of the economy, the growth rate, the exchange rate, inflation, unemployment, and other factors.
“The overarching finding is that we are not where we should be, and we also examined the president’s eight-point agenda, that is, the eight priority areas for advancing the Nigerian economy and delivering to Nigerians, and those are primarily food security; ending poverty; economic growth and job creation; access to capital, particularly consumer credit; inclusivity in all its dimensions, particularly as regards youths and women; improving security; and improving infrastructure.
The plans and targets for what will be delivered over the next three years or so were identified, discussed, and input from various ministers was provided around that matrix. We now have the marching orders to further refine those targets in particular and to start implementing policies and programs to turn around the economy and improve conditions for all Nigerians within the next few weeks. That is actually the main topic of the conversation, he said.
Before being appointed as a minister, the former investment banker served as Tinubu’s special adviser on monetary policy. He declared that as minister, he will concentrate on repairing Nigeria’s public finances.
He continued by saying that after a devaluation in June, the government’s naira profits from crude oil sales had increased.
“The federation makes money, and if those dollars are flowing through, let’s say at a ratio of 700 or 750 naira to one dollar rather than 460 naira previously. That is undoubtedly restoring the government’s finances, according to Edun.
“So, that’s the game plan.”
Shehu Sani, a sociopolitical analyst and former congressman from Kaduna Central, responded to this by writing on X, “It’s reassuring to hear from the Finance Minister that the FG has halted borrowing from both local and international sources. The challenge now is to figure out how to escape the debt hole that the Buhari administration left behind.
Click to view other articles about Wale Edun