IMF doesn’t dictate for us — Edun

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, stated that Nigeria would continue to prioritise local resource mobilisation, even as the government is committed to achieving a 23 to 25 per cent revenue-to-output level.

Edun said that the government has asked manufacturers and businesses to invoice in naira instead of dollars as part of proactive measures to reduce the demand for dollars.

“We are asking people to invoice in naira rather than dollars, thereby reducing the demand for dollars. We have moved to free-market pricing in petrol, jet fuel, and kerosene, and this is the first time in 40 years that we are doing that,” he said.

The minister also dismissed the insinuation that the administration of President Bola Tinubu mimics the IMF and World Bank’s economic ideology, swallowing their advisories hook, line, and sinker. He insisted that he and his colleagues are fully responsible for the decisions the government has taken.

For instance, he noted, the IMF advised against the issuance of local dollar bonds, which were eventually oversubscribed.

He highlighted efforts to ensure a sustained rise in oil production, saying the government was on course to meet its two-million-barrel-per-day (bpd) target.

Essentially, he said the subsidy was removed on October 2, hence, “it is now that we will assess the gains of the subsidy removal, which will be a huge dividend to the people.”

Edun said the NNPCL had started the process of clearing the outstanding “payable.”