By Abbanobi-Eku Onyekachi
Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed gratitude to its citizens for their endurance amidst the country’s economic reforms, which are finally yielding positive results.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, shared this appreciation during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Finance. He assured that the initial challenges of the reforms are over and better days are ahead, with positive indicators already emerging.
The two critical reforms mentioned are the market-based price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and foreign exchange. These reforms have reached the stage of delivering results, which will contribute to the nation’s economic viability through fiscal sustainability.
Some of the key reforms implemented by the Nigerian government include: Unification of Exchange Rates, by ensuring that the Central Bank of Nigeria has unified the multiple official exchange rates, fostering a market-determined official rate and clearing the verified foreign exchange backlog.
Added was on the area of Gasoline Price Adjustment, by ensuring that the government has sharply adjusted gasoline prices to phase out the subsidy, which had cost the country over 8.6 trillion naira (US$22.2 billion) from 2019 to 2022.
In the area of Cash Transfer Program, the FG has started to cushion the effect of the reforms on citizens, especially the poor and vulnerable, even as it announced a cash transfer program to provide 15 million households with 75,000 naira for a period of three months
These reforms are expected to stabilize the economy, promote fiscal sustainability, and provide sufficient resources to deliver quality public services. The World Bank has also stepped in to support Nigeria’s efforts with a new financing package of US$2.25 billion.
