Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, says Nigeria will overcome its economic challenges “without taking loan facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”.
According to Festus Akanbi, media aide of Adeosun, the minister made the remark at the ongoing spring meetings of the IMF-World Bank in Washington DC in response to why the government has refused to apply for IMF loans.
Christine Largarde, managing director of IMF, has advised Nigeria to seek help on its economy, saying the organisation is willing to assist.
“Our recommendation is that Nigeria seeks help from the international institutions that can best help… We remain completely available to help,” she had said.
But Adeosun said the government was already applying a “cocktail of measures” to address the problems confronting the country at the moment.
“Nigeria is not sick. The real vulnerability in the Nigerian economy is over-dependence on a single source of revenue; oil,” the statement quoted her as saying.
“We have resolved to build resilience into the country’s economy to hedge against future oil shocks. This is because dependence on oil brings about vulnerability and laziness.
“So, we are doing a combination of things to diversify our economy, with revenue mobilisation to enable sufficient investment in developing the non-oil sectors.
“We have great opportunities to reset the Nigerian economy and ensure that as we go forward, growth will be in a sustainable manner so that we won’t be vulnerable to oil price fluctuations.”
Adeosun said with a truly diversified economy the government would have enabled opportunities for wealth creation that would have flow down to every Nigerian.
“The compelling business case in Nigeria is that the fundamentals remain very strong, a teaming, young growing population, rich in resources and with a government determined to finally get it right,” she said.
“The great thing is that long term investors recognise this and understand the difference between short term and long term issues and the case for Nigeria persuades one to plan for the longer term opportunities.”
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