The Nigerian presidency has assured that many of the measures being taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to cushion the effect of his reforms are expected to blossom into rays of sunshine to be experienced by all Nigerians in 2024.
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja while assuring that the President is already taking measures to address the challenges brought about by the bold reforms introduced by the administration in all sectors of the economy.
He added that more of such measures would be taken in 2024 as Tinubu had never shied away from acknowledging the temporary pains triggered by the reforms.
‘’Many of these measures are already being taken and, in the New Year, we expect the silver linings, that are at present understated, to blossom into rays of sunshine to be experienced by all Nigerians.
‘’The removal of fuel subsidy and the move to merge foreign exchange rates, two headline reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration since late May, caused problems such as high fuel prices and the depreciation of the Naira, two monstrosities which combined to cause a general spike in costs of services and goods,’’ Onanuga said noted.
He said that the latest NBS report put Nigeria’s inflation at 26.7 per cent in September, which rose to 28.2 per cent in November from 27.33 per cent in October, adding that food inflation remained untamed.
He noted, however, that the new policies alone were not solely responsible for the economic problems Nigera is facing today.
“We were destined for the tough and rough patch, where we are today, because of the prevailing conditions before Tinubu took over on May 29.
‘’As at June 2023, budget deficit was N10.8 trillion. Actual debt service was 98.95 per cent of revenue, far higher than the projected 59.37 per cent. Inflow into the country’s foreign reserve came in trickles.
‘’And so bad was the state of affairs that Nigeria could not remit about $800 million fund of foreign airlines. JP Morgan exposed our near insolvency by claiming in a report that our net foreign reserve was just about $3.7 billion, not the $33 billion plus flaunted by Emefiele’s CBN.
