The Minister for Finance, Olawale Edun has assured Nigerians that a solution is in sight to address the present economic challenges facing the country.
The Minister disclosed this on Thursday during a programme organized by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in Abuja.
Edun said that the President Bola Tinubu led-administration will tackle foreign exchange (forex) problem with the cheapest available funds.
The Minister, while unveiling plans to address the nation’s economic problems at a Business Lunch in his honour and three other ministers, said that he met with World Bank officials on how to address tight forex liquidity.
Speaking on what he described as his humbling experience in power, Edun assured Nigerians that President Bola Tinubu is working round the clock to find solutions to the nation’s economic problems.
“I have just risen from a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee as stipulated by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make sure that there are collaboration, coordination and cooperation. And, as you can imagine, full communication in terms of the economic management of our dear country.
“And so we went through things like the economic management framework, which would include a lot of consultations, step-by-step with other stakeholders, including the private sector that will serve as one of the key ad hoc committees that we put together and the updated and expanded national development plan.
“But as we know, there is much to be done. So, this morning session (Thursday’s) was a way of explaining our plan in order to attract the cheapest or most available of those funds.
“So that’s just to spend the time I have with you, explaining myself, communicating and there’s much more of that to be done.
“Even earlier, we were meeting with the World Bank. As we know, this is a time of very tight foreign exchange liquidity. So, it must be sought and found wherever.
“And one of those cheap and viable ways is foreign exchange funding, which virtually comes free. A lot of it has zero interest from the World Bank, a multilateral development institution set up to help developing countries such as ours.
“And of course, you have to be able to tell them, this is the economic plan. You all know the measures that Mr. President has taken. We have briefly dealt with the issue of subsidy that was draining government revenues. He has briefly dealt with the foreign exchange situation and multiple windows, which was deterring investors,” Olwale Edun said.
By Adekunle Adegboyega
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