Nigeria’s economy back on track – Minister

Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, says President Bola Tinubu’s administration has implemented bold reforms that have positioned the nation’s economy for sustained recovery and growth, despite short-term pain.

The minister said this while addressing State House Correspondents after a courtesy call on Tinubu in his Lagos residence on Saturday night.

Mr Bagudu commended the administration’s economic policies, stating that Nigeria is beginning to reap the fruits of long-overdue structural changes.

“We’re not where we want to be, but these steps have turned the economy in the right direction,” he said.

The minister emphasised that the Tinubu administration’s decision to end costly subsidies on fuel, foreign exchange and electricity was pivotal.

“Decades of underinvestment brought Nigeria to a point where even paying salaries was difficult.

“By cutting these subsidies, we freed up resources. Today, subnational governments, states and local governments have nearly tripled the funds they had before. That’s transformative,” Mr Bagudu stated.

The funds, he averred, were being channelled into infrastructure, agriculture, consumer credit, digital innovation and human capital development.

“These are not abstract promises. We are seeing real allocations going to security, education, and economic empowerment,” he added.

According to Mr Bagudu, these reforms are already inspiring a resurgence of investor confidence.

“One of the greatest differentiators between developed and developing countries is the level of investment. Both public and private.

“We are now correcting years of neglect. That is a Herculean task and that is central to reforms.

“There is a visible return of private capital, both domestic and international. Investors are taking Nigeria seriously again. They see a government that’s making tough but necessary choices,” he said.

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The minister likened the administration’s early efforts to laying a strong foundation.

“When someone starts by filling the hole under a house, you might think they’ve done nothing because you don’t yet see the walls.

“But President Tinubu has been honest. He said from the start: we’re in a hole, not because we want to blame the past, but because critical decisions were delayed for too long,” he said.