Solution is in sight for the economic challenges, Minister of Finance Olawale Edun yesterday said yesterday.
He added that the Tinubu Administration will tackle foreign exchange (forex) problem with the cheapest available funds.
He said he met with World Bank officials yesterday (Wednesday) on how to address tight forex liquidity.
Edun unveiled plans to address the nation’s economic problems at a Business Lunch in his honour and three other ministers by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) in Abuja.
Those also honoured are Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alh. Mohammed Idris; the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr. Dele Alake and the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy Hanatu Musawa.
All the ministers, who have been active members of NPAN, were celebrated for being appointed into the cabinet of President Tinubu.
Edun, a former chairman of Vintage Press Limited, was treasurer of NPAN, while Idris, who was publisher of BluePrint, was general secretary.
Speaking on what he described as his humbling experience in power, Edun assured Nigerians that Tinubu was working round the clock to find solutions to the nation’s economic problems.
“I have just risen from a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee as stipulated by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make sure that there are collaboration, coordination and cooperation. And, as you can imagine, full communication in terms of the economic management of our dear country.
“And so we went through things like the economic management framework, which would include a lot of consultations, step-by-step with other stakeholders, including the private sector that will serve as one of the key ad hoc committees that we put together and the updated and expanded national development plan.
“Even earlier, we were meeting with the World Bank. As we know, this is a time of very tight foreign exchange liquidity. So, it must be sought and found wherever.
“And one of those cheap and viable ways is foreign exchange funding, which virtually comes free. A lot of it has zero interest from the World Bank, a multilateral development institution set up to help developing countries such as ours.
“And of course, you have to be able to tell them, this is the economic plan. You all know the measures that Mr. President has taken. We have briefly dealt with the issue of subsidy that was draining government revenues. He has briefly dealt with the foreign exchange situation and multiple windows, which was deterring investor.
“But as we know, there is much to be done. So, this morning session (Thursday’s) was a way of explaining our plan in order to attract the cheapest or most available of those funds.
“So that’s just to spend the time I have with you, explaining myself, communicating and there’s much more of that to be done,” Edun said.
He pleaded for the cooperation of the media, said the government was working hard to find solutions to the nation’s economic.
He said Tinubu is ultimately encouraging investments that will increase productivity that will grow the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.
“All these will certainly be put on the right trajectory which will yield results in the not too distant future,” Edun said.
Idris said the media industry may also benefits from the tax incentives the government was working on.
credit- Nation
