Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the last time the foreign exchange (FX) rate was stable, and interest rates were affordable, was a decade ago.
Wale Edun spoke about the state of the economy at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday.
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He said a weak, depreciating exchange rate, as well as security concerns, resulted in an economy “that is not growing and that is not lifting our Nigerians out of poverty”.
“If we think back to when was the last time when the economy was stable, when it was growing, when inflation was low, when the exchange rate was stable, and when interest rates were affordable; that period was about a decade ago,” he said.
The minister said “economic growth was about 6 percent around 2013 to 2014”.
The increase, according to Wale Edun, was due to the worldwide commodity boom that began around 2010.
“Oil prices were high; volumes were high,” he said.
“Nigeria earned and the government earned into its coffers over $80 billion per annum, compared to the figure now of around $25 billion. So you can see the difference.
“And what that points to is that there was a time when government had enough foreign exchange. It had enough naira revenue to meet its obligations and to provide the funding for growth of the economy.
“It had enough foreign exchange such that when people came in to invest and they needed to import raw materials, import machinery, government could provide the wherewithal.”
This, the minister said, indicates that if the government does not have the funds, it must facilitate and allow private funding.
He advised the government to accommodate other sources of funding, such as foreign direct investment, as well as domestic investment by Nigerians in all areas.
