Nigeria exits funding financial responsibilities through Ways and Means

By Chiamaka Okechukwu

The Nigerian government has said it exited funding of its financial responsibilities through Ways and Means.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun made this statement in Lagos at the 2024 Access Corporate Forum, with the theme, “Nigeria’s Economic Rebirth: Hopes and Implications.”

Edun said the government was putting in place a world-class treasury and liability management system that would take Nigeria to where it should be in terms of financial management.

“We have exited Ways and Means. What does that mean? It means that the government, when it has to pay domestic debt service or foreign debt service, does not go to the central bank to debit the consolidated revenue fund of the government, which means just printing the money,” he said.

The Minister further said, “but more importantly, we are putting in place, with the backing and support of Mr. President, a world-class treasury and liability management system that will take this country to where it should be in terms of financial management.”

Edun while commenting on the ongoing economic reforms being implemented by the federal government since May 29, 2023, said “the reforms, from evidence from the data and details that are available to us, are yielding fruits.”

He stressed that “the economy is beginning to turn the corner, as we are all witnesses to the improved macroeconomic stability, such as stable exchange rates, improving government revenues, positive and increasing trade balances, current account balances and a total reconfiguration and revamping of government revenues.”

The minister declared that successful delivery of government’s economic stabilisation plan would reinforce the gains being recorded from the reform measures.

He said the plan included the mobilisation of 360,000 farmers to cultivate 360,000 hectares of land that would yield an estimated harvest of 1.4 million metric tonnes of maize, wheat, and cassava because “we must produce the food that we eat”.

Edun added that the government was providing support and relief to manufacturers through fiscal measures, and disclosed that the economic management team would be reconvened soon, as the government was preparing a document that would put together its economic plan.

Managing Director of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna, explained that the forum was meant to ensure that the public had a clear policy direction regarding the government and its plan for businesses by giving them insight into economic realities and opportunities.