Senator hails Tinubu’s economic reforms, berates Customs for killings at border
Fitch, an international rating agency, has cautioned that the naira’s weakness is heightening the debt service risks for states carrying significant external debt.

It, however, upgraded the Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of Kaduna, Kogi, Lagos and Oyo states from ‘B-’ to ‘B’.
 
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said while the world was facing an uncertain future, Nigeria was well-positioned to survive.
 
Relatedly, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) said President Bola Tinubu saved Nigeria’s economy from total collapse by removing fuel subsidy and floating the naira.
 
Fitch explained that the rating action followed the upgrade of Nigeria’s sovereign rating to ‘B’ from ‘B-’ on April 11, 2025, reflecting improved macroeconomic stability and policy reforms.
 
The rating, according to Fitch’s rating criteria, mirrored the sovereign upgrade in the affected states, given the predominant role of the Federal Government in Nigeria’s intergovernmental fiscal system.
 
The report by Fitch, which upgraded Kaduna State to ‘bb’, said as of the end of 2023, 86 per cent of the state’s direct debt was denominated in foreign currencies, leaving it highly exposed to currency risks.
 
Fitch expects Kaduna’s payback ratio to remain at around 18 times, reflecting weak debt service coverage and a high debt-to-revenue ratio.
 
By the end of 2023, 50 per cent of Lagos State’s direct debt was denominated in foreign currencies, highlighting a notable exposure to currency fluctuations, Fitch notes. The state was rated ‘aa’.
 
Despite the challenges, Fitch projects the state’s payback ratio to remain strong at around five times by the end of 2028. The state’s fiscal resilience is underpinned by its exceptional internally generated revenue (IGR), which accounts for 75 per cent of its total operating revenue, far exceeding the national average of 25 per cent.
 
Fitch’s rating for Oyo was ‘a’. According to Fitch, the state’s debt profile is primarily denominated in local currency, which helps to reduce its exposure to foreign exchange risks.

EDUN stated this during a briefing addressed by the Nigerian economic team, as part of activities marking the end of the 2025 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings on Saturday in Washington D.C.
 
According to the minister, the Federal Government plans to reduce the inflation rate to a single digit and create more jobs, disclosing the collaboration with development partners like the World Bank in pursuit of sustainable employment and poverty eradication.
 
“The objective is to create jobs locally, empower youths and support them through essential infrastructure. That includes digital infrastructure, access to data, Internet and fibre optic networks, to enable them to work remotely,” the minister said.
 
He said the country’s unemployment rate had dropped to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024 from 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.
 
The world faces a very uncertain future, but Nigeria is well-positioned to survive the shocks despite heightened tensions, inflation and declining global growth.
 
Tinubu’s reform agenda, he added, is working and the results are commendable.
 
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, said the government acknowledged the impact of inflationary pressures on the country.

ADEOLA disclosed that the previous administration borrowed heavily to fund a fuel subsidy that benefited less than one per cent of Nigerians and stabilise the naira against the dollar, adding that the bold step of the Tinubu-led administration was the saving grace for the nation.
 
He made this known during the second Town Hall Meeting/Mega Empowerment and Thank You Tour, held at Ayetoro, Yewa North Local Council of Ogun State.
 
Disclosing that no fewer than $400 billion was equally borrowed to stabilise naira against the dollar, a fiscal policy which left the country’s economy at the brink, he commended President Tinubu for taking a hard decision to revamp the hitherto comatose economy, stressing that all the reforms being undertaken by Tinubu’s administration were to secure the future of the unborn generations of Nigerians.