President Bola Tinubu has reassured Nigerians and investors that efforts are underway to increase the nation’s foreign exchange (Forex) liquidity.
This came as Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, stated that the nation anticipated receiving $10 billion in inflows soon. These inflows would help clear the foreign exchange shortage and stabilise the value of the naira.
During his speech on Monday at the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged the difficulties the business sector faced in the financial markets and assured them of more foreign exchange liquidity to help rebuild investor confidence.
He also underlined his government’s commitment to bolstering governance by developing a performance—and result-oriented public and civil service culture and structure.
The President listed his administration’s eight top priorities: combating corruption, promoting inclusion, security, fairness, the rule of law, economic growth and job creation, reducing poverty, and attaining food security.
He listed many steps his government has taken to revive the economy, including the N5 billion in support for small enterprises and the agriculture sector. He also disclosed plans for future projects, including consumer credit programmes and a new student loan programme.
To create a future filled with new optimism, Tinubu invited the private sector to contribute their ideas, leadership, resources, and combined will. He also called on them to support his vision for a stronger Nigeria.
He highlighted the value of cooperation between the public and private sectors, pointing to how public-private partnerships had transformed Lagos State.
The President invited the corporate sector to partner with him in this endeavour, stating that he was prepared to fulfill his commitments to the people of Nigeria.
“All foreign exchange contracts will be honoured by this government,” the president declared after clearing the FX backlog that had undermined investor confidence.
“We have a clear path to the foreign exchange required to turn this economy around. And we’ll obtain it,” he continued.
In his speech, Mr Niyi Yusuf, the chairman of the National Economic Summit Group, stated that if a period of low growth and low investment continues, there may be more dangers of stagnation and misery because there are over 133 million multidimensionally poor Nigerians.
Additionally, he stated that various taxes, high inventory costs, import input costs, limited access to foreign exchange, and rising foreign exchange costs all contribute to the erosion of firm balance sheets, which in turn causes a decline in employment and production.
He said that the nation is at a turning moment in its history and that the people’s problems call for quick, coordinated action. He also mentioned that everyone concerned must act quickly and with a common sense of urgency.
Yusuf clarified that to stop all types of organised and syndicated crime centred around crude oil and solid minerals and a made-in-Nigeria agenda, the country needs a macroeconomic stability strategy backed by an aggressively expanded national security effort.
A national plan for job development that promotes the creation of many high-quality jobs and immediate investment is also necessary.
