In its quest to bring tranquility to the tempestuous foreign exchange market the Federal Government has asked for investment and increased trading relationships from member countries of the G-24.
These will play a critical role in the country’s quest for growth as well as ensure a stable and growing economy.
Director of Information and Public Relations Mohammed Danjuma quoted the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, to have made the request at the ongoing World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings holding in Washington DC.

Represented by the Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, the Minister informed the G-24, a group of countries working together to coordinate the positions of developing countries on international monetary and financial issues and indeed the global gathering that Nigerian Government, on its part, has administered a cocktail of intervention programmes and potent policies which are already yielding desired outcomes.

He explained that
the efforts of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration towards repositioning the economy
were already yielding desired outcomes, which has significantly narrowed the gap between the exchanges at the parallel market and the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market.

Edun said that Nigeria was well positioned to attract investments in various sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, oil and gas, amongst others.

While responding to a question from a Russian journalist on areas of cooperation between the two countries, the Minister said that the last major investment of the Eastern European nation in Nigeria was the Ajaokuta Steel Company, which currently lies prostate over large sprawling greenfield.

He informed further that apart from Brazil, there is no country in the world with as much arable land as Nigeria, as such, the country should be a net exporter of food and not an importer.

Edun also justified the decision for the Dangote Refinery to work on meeting local demands of petroleum products before eyeing export markets.

“Does it make a meaning that domestic demand is not yet met and a company refines products and exports, while Nigeria goes and imports the same products from Europe?” he queried.

The Minister added that local refining would be encouraged until indigenous demand has been fully met, and then the nation can export products as well as earn foreign exchange from such exports.

On budget implementation, he said that the capital component of the 2023 supplementary budget was still being implemented and would run until June due to government’s determination to make impacts in various sectors.

The Minister added that the 2024 budget was being implemented as planned, assuring that the citizens would be better for it.

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has said that the Federal Government will pin down Ways and Means to deal with the problem of too much liquidity in the system, in its avowed determination to alleviate the pressure of excess money in the system.

The Minister made the disclosure in Washington DC, United States of America, while answering questions from journalists shortly
after a meeting with investors at the on-going Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
The director of Information and Public Relations Mohammed Manga in a statement quoted the minister to have informed the global gathering that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration was fully determined to
pinning down on Ways and Means to alleviate the pressure of the excess money in the system.

He added that in the light of this, the fiscal and monetary authorities were also working towards bringing down inflation. 

Mr. Edun added that by so doing, *the two authorities are working hand in hand to bring down inflation and pressure on price stability and stabilising the exchange rate with the target of bringing down interest rates so that investors can borrow at a more affordable rate with a view to getting the economy going the right direction again.

“We need to borrow less and focus more on domestic resource mobilization. We want long-term resources to avoid repayment and refinancing pressures, he said.

The Minister added further that the nation’s tax/GDP was too low, even lower than the African region’s average and that as such, reforms were underway to streamline the number of taxes, deploy technology and implement policies that would double tax revenue in the next three years
“At 10 percent to GDP, what should I say? It would appear as if some people are not paying their taxes. Our strategy is to increase the tax revenue without increasing the rate of taxes. We want to deploy technology to make tax collection more efficient. 
“Our analysis has shown that 90 percent of tax revenue comes from nine tax heads while we have over 80 taxes from federal through states to local  councils.
“If we eliminate the large number of these taxes and concentrate on the nine that yield the current 90 percent revenue and deploy technology, there will be more efficiency and we will be able to double our tax revenue in about three years”, Edun said

He stated further that “if we eliminate the large number of taxes and bill people properly, we will gain in terms of the peoples’ willingness to pay and you will collect more revenue.” The Minister assured.

While addressing a question on food security, the Minister said that the present administration was dealing with the problem so as to provide farmers’ access to their farms, especially in parts of the country where insecurity has played a major role in reducing food production. 

Mr. Edun added that agro clusters were being developed in collaboration with the African Development Bank so as to increase food production in the country. 

Alongside the Minister at the meeting were the former Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Olayemi Cardoso and some other top government officials.

The Federal Government has given the assurance that it will continue to showcase the progress made so far in the Nigerian economy in order to attract more foreign investment into the country with a view to improving on the lives of Nigerians

The Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, gave the assurance in Washington as the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings intensify in Washington DC when he granted audience to some newsmen.
Director, Information and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga in a statement quoted the minister to stated that the bold, courageous and strategic reforms of the Nigerian economy embarked upon by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration aims not only at stabilising the nation’s economy in order to boost foreign investment into the country but also to provide opportunities for job creation and poverty reduction.

The Minister explained that the economy is moving in the right direction as the policies put in place by the present administration have started slowing down food inflation.

Edun explained that both he, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, and other key government officials were in Washington DC to showcase the progress made so far in the Nigerian economy.
“The Economic Team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is here to showcase the progress so far made of his bold, courageous and strategic reforms for the Nigerian economy in order to get it stabilised so as to attract foreign investment, create jobs for our people, reduce poverty and enhance our economic growth and development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration”
“We have all seen what has happened in terms of stabilising the exchange rate and inflation, which is now heading in the right direction*, the Minister said

He added that after a closer look at the numbers that came out especially from Monday, there is a slowing of the rate of increase of food inflation “Things are moving in the right direction, government revenues are up, even oil revenues are up but not as much as we will like. But I assure you that with our resilience, we will get there, he concluded.

The Minister is attending the World Bank-IMF Spring meeting in Washington DC alongside the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya, some Directors and other government officials.