Finance Minister Says Nigerian Government To Stop Borrowing, Start Investing

The newly appointed Finance Minister Wale Edun announced that the Nigerian government will stop borrowing and instead start investing to boost government revenue and improve the business environment for local and foreign investors.

Minister Edun said at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Monday in Abuja that subsidy removal will work in the favor of Nigerians as the increased revenue generated from it is going to be used to invest.

"Essentially, we went through an exercise of looking at where things stood regarding the economy, the growth rate, the exchange rate, inflation, unemployment, and so on," he said, Premium Times reported.

He went on to explain that the government came up with an overriding conclusion that the country is not where it is supposed to be.

Minister Edun mentioned "the president's eight-point agenda, that is, the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians, and those are basically food security."

He further shared that the president aims to "end poverty, economic growth and job creation, access to capital, particularly consumer credit, inclusivity in all its dimensions, particularly as regards youths and women, improving security, improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate, rule of law, and of course, fighting corruption."

The minister shared that the government is planning to implement the plans and meet the targets in the span of three years or so.

"We'll now go away with the marching order to refine further the targets in particular and within weeks to start rolling out policies and programs to turn around the economy and make things better for all Nigerians," he added. "That really is the substance of what the discussion was all about."

Minister of Health, Ali Pate, also noted during the meeting that the president had directed his team to make courageous and innovative decisions in favor of Nigeria, noting that the president has already taken such moves - hinting at subsidy removal.

"The president's vision is that of economic growth, prosperity for all, ending poverty; I think the Coordinating Minister of the Economy laid out those important priorities, which were discussed in the Council Chambers today," he added.

Minister Pate further shared that Nigeria's young population is one of the most important assets. Hence, it is essential to cater to their needs in order to bring prosperity to the country.

"President's vision includes the idea of harnessing the human capital of our youthful population to achieve prosperity for everyone," he concluded.