Nigeria’s Finance Minister and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, on Wednesday stated the nation is lucky to have President Bola Tinubu on the helm of affairs at a time of financial challenges and international uncertainty.
Mr Oyedele made the comment on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) conferences in Bangkok, Thailand, the place he praised the president for his willingness to implement tough financial reforms and his understanding of financial and financial coverage points.
“I say to myself every time that Nigeria is lucky to have a leader like Mr President,” the minister stated.
“A leader that says ‘I’ll do the right thing, even when it’s not popular’. There are so very few of them, and our president is not saying it; he’s doing it, he’s doing it even with pre-election (concerns),” he added.
Since assuming workplace in May 2023, the Tinubu administration has launched a collection of financial reforms, the impression of which worldwide establishments just like the World Bank and the IMF have acknowledged
The reforms embody the removing of expensive petrol subsidies, which had been a significant drain on public finance for years, the unification of the international change charges and the sharp devaluation of the naira to appeal to international capital.
Although abolishing gasoline subsidies has boosted authorities income and is seen as an investor-friendly transfer, it has triggered a cost-of-living disaster and spurred inflationary pressures.
Reforms within the international change market have helped improve accretion to exterior reserves, which stood at $55.1 billion as of 9 October, its peak stage in over 18 years.
The banking sector additionally underwent a recapitalisation train that led to March and helped Nigerian banks increase N4.7 trillion in new capital.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the recapitalisation strengthened banks’ capital adequacy ratios, conserving the sector above worldwide Basel benchmarks.
Mr Oyedele stated President Tinubu possesses two attributes unusual amongst leaders, notably these of democratic governments.
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The first is his willingness to do what he considers proper, even when the choice is unpopular or politically tough.
“I remember at least three issues that were discussed with him recently, and on my own I would offer to say ‘maybe we wait until after the election’. And his question is always, ‘Is it the right thing to do?’ Yes, yes, it is. Why do we have to wait?” Mr Oyedele stated.
“Number two attribute is that our President gets it. It’s not easy to understand issues to do with the economy, finance, monetary policy, like respect for the independence of the monetary authority. For Mr President, it’s 100 per cent,” he added.
The minister added that the president’s place on such issues has made it pointless for officers to talk about the problem with him repeatedly.
“We don’t even talk about it. So, I feel like we are so blessed, we cannot afford to wait even one minute,” he stated.
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