Finance Minister Seeks Staff Support To Drive Reforms

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun has sought the cooperation and support of the staff to enable him deliver on the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to a statement signed by Director (Press & PR), Stephen Kilebi on Thursday in Abuja, the minister made the appeal during a town hall meeting with the management and staff of the Ministry in Abuja. The meeting which was held at the instance of the Minister was aimed at exchanging views with the management and staff on how best to deliver on the mandate of the Ministry in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration. Edun said the essence of the meeting was, “Let me meet my people, feel their pulse and know what to do with them in order to deliver on the mandate given me by Mr. President.” He added, “A tree does not make a forest. Working together, honouring one another and being fair to one another can perform wonders.” He added, “I encourage staff to perform excellently in order to deliver in their callings not only for the Ministry but for the whole country.” The Minister assured of continued staff welfare for better and efficient service delivery. The Minister while appreciating the resilience and professionalism of Nigerian workers urged the staff to join hands with him to deliver on the mandate reposed on him by the President on his Renewed Hope Agenda. He said the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda is a veritable tool for service delivery assuring that “Things are going to change and be better, not only for Nigerians, but will make the Ministry attain global competitiveness,”  Edun added that President Tinubu is a leader, a coach and a strategist and will change the narrative. He said the President is “A man of empathy, who acknowledges the sufferings of Nigerians even when Nigeria is rich in all sectors will definitely change things around for good.” Edun who acknowledged the President’s vision of inclusivity and gender friendly administration said, “I am extremely happy to be in the Ministry. I am privileged to be the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Chairman Forum of African Ministers of Finance.” He noted that the task was enormous and he couldn’t do it alone without the support of the management team and the staff commitment. He assured that staff welfare would be given top most consideration to ease their suffering, disclosing that plans were on the way for the provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy, stressing that with CNG buses Nigerians would pay less for transportation. Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Finance Okokon Udo, appreciated the minister for his maiden meeting with the staff and pledged the support of the management and staff of the Ministry for his success. He noted that the meeting was a “veritable platform for interaction” adding that its essence was to “rub minds, express feelings, tell ourselves the truth constructively and how to move forward”. Udo said that the Ministry has a conducive working environment for effective and efficient service delivery. The Joint Union Chairman, Comrade Mohammed Attahiru, while officially welcoming the Minister said, the “Minister has broken the jinx by holding the interactive session adding that, the interactive meeting was what the trade union had been yearning for. He mentioned that, based on the Minister’s pedigree which stood him out, the union has no doubt that he will perform creditably and promised him of their total support.

Naira Freefall: FG To Receive $10bn Forex Inflow – Finance Minister

The fortunes of the naira may soon be reversed with the Finance Minister, Wale Edun assuring that about $10 billion naira is expected to flow into the economy in a matter of week Edun made this known during a panel session at the ongoing Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) question and answer session concerning stabilizing the foreign exchange market and enshrining liquidity in the market. Since the unification of the foreign exchange market in June, the naira’s value has slumped by over 100 per cent on the parallel market. The current CBN management has introduced a slew of measures to provide liquidity but the chasm between the rate on the I&E window and parallel market continues to widen. The minister said, “in addition, from the supply of foreign exchange through NNPC, increased production, reduced expenditure, from transactions such as forward sales, from our discussions with sovereign wealth funds, that are ready to invest and provide advanced alongside that investment, there is a line of sight of $10 billion worth of foreign exchange in the relatively near future in weeks rather months.” The Minister further said President Tinubu has signed two executive orders geared towards ensuring liquidity in the forex market. He said, “Mr. President announced that he had taken measures to ease illiquidity in the forex market which we know is very problematic at this time.” “The market is illiquid; it’s not functioning properly because there is no supply and there are various reasons for that. The solution that the President has put on the table is that he has signed an executive order that effectively allows under forbearance all the cash that is in the domestic economy to legally come into the formal money supply” “Along with that, there is another executive order that allows domestic issuance of foreign currency instruments so that they will have the incentive to provide that foreign exchange from whatever source.”

Ways and Means: Tinubu Won’t Exceed Statutory Limit– Edun

President Bola Tinubu will not go above statutory limits in obtaining budget support facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Ways and Means Advances. The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said this at the weekend in Marrakech, at the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings. He said that Tinubu was committed to “keeping with the spirit and the letter” of autonomy of the CBN. The stakeholders and financial experts had criticised former President Muhammadu Buhari for worsening the country’s debt burden. By obtaining more than N22.7 trillion in Ways and Means Advances from the apex bank. Edun, however, said that the country was discussing with the World Bank for a 1.5 billion dollars budget support. “The World Bank is the number one development bank that helps developing countries to fund their projects and programmes. “We are happy that the funding will come in soon. World Bank money is the cheapest, ” he said. The minister said that the government was also concerned about financing. “About one trillion dollars is needed to meet the target of climate change globally. These is a climate financing fund which is relatively cheap. “There is also a commitment to help Africa and the third world with climate transition because they are not responsible for climate change in any substantial way. “One of the ways to help them is through climate financing and we will be looking at green bond and more climate financing options,” he said. 

Wale Edun Gets World Bank Appointment

Mr. Wale Edun, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, has been selected to serve as the Chairman of the African Governors’ Forum of the World Bank.  This significant announcement was made by the Federal Ministry of Finance via its official X (formerly Twitter) account. This appointment holds great potential for Nigeria, paving the way for the realization of President Tinubu’s ambitious “Renewed Hope Agenda.”  As Chairman, Mr. Edun is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping policies and initiatives that will have far-reaching impacts on economic development and cooperation across the African continent. Edun said this would create an opportunity to unite the African continent, the finance ministers of Africa, the economic leaders and representatives of governments.

N5bn Palliatives: FG has released N2bn to States, FCT -Wale Edun

The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Wale Edun has said that the sum of N2 billion has been released to the 36 States and the federal capital territory.  The minister, who said this during a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, said the money is a combination of loans and grant.  Edun said the federal government decided to release the money in tranches to avert further spikes in the inflation rate. He said, “On the issue of the N5 billion, it is a combination of grants from the federal government and borrowing by the states. And of course, although the sum of N5bn is earmarked, you will agree with me that if you release such funds across all states at once, it will be self-defeating and it will lead to an inflationary spiral, lead to cost of goods going up, and exchange rate liquidity will go up,” he said.  The minister further said that the N500 billion palliatives is part of the federal government’s support to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.  He said “the president is going to deliver a better life to Nigerians by encouraging investment that increases productivity that grows the economy and thereby creating jobs and reducing poverty”. Acknowledging the hardship currently being experienced by Nigerians over the removal of petrol subsidy, the minister said that in a little while, the whole system will begin to experience the benefits of the subsidy.  He said: “There are funds in domiciliary accounts and If you give people the incentives they will utilise those funds in Nigerians for Nigerians. They have huge holdings in foreign currency in banks abroad, in financial institutions abroad. We need to provide the environment that brings those funds home, to choose to invest in the Nigerian economy rather than foreign economy.” The Chairman presidential Committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, Taiwo Oyedele said the federal government would rake into its coffers N20 trillion if the right taxes are paid.  He added that the government was in the process of reviewing the incentives that has been granted over the years.  According to him, the sum of N6 billion is lost by the government from incentives.  He insisted that going forward, incentives would be targeted at those that need it the most saying that the country could “make more money from tax than we can do from crude oil.”