FG pledges to ease cost of living, stabilise Forex

By Bisi LAWAL

The Federal Government has pledged to implement reforms that will boost economic growth, curb inflation, ease the cost of living and stabilise the foreign exchange.

Following the recurrent freefall of the Naira in the Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the Federal Government has assured Nigerians that it will implement macroeconomic reforms to stabilise the market.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, gave the assurance on Saturday in Minna, at the 2024 Press Week of the Niger State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Represented by the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mallam Jibrin Baba Ndace, the Minister assured that year 2024 holds a lot of prospects for Nigerians as some of the promising initiatives of the administration begin to bear fruits.

He said 2024 would be a great year for Nigeria as the policies of President Bola Tinubu under the Renewed Hope Agenda take firmer roots for the growth of the nation’s economy.

“The Tinubu administration will continue to implement macroeconomic reforms to achieve broad economic objectives of sustained economic growth.

“The reforms will bring down inflation, ease the cost of living, stabilise foreign exchange and create jobs, among others,” he said.

Idris said, against the backdrop of the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, liberalising the foreign exchange regime, and the fight against corruption, the Tinubu government is showing fidelity to the rule of law.

According to him, the independence of institutions, including the judiciary were demonstrated in the recent judgements of the courts.

The Minister assured that no policy of the present administration would put any part of the country in a disadvantageous position and explained that the recent decision to relocate certain departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the headquarters of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos is part of a broader strategy to enhance operational efficiency.

According to him, the decision would also ensure a responsive financial system and cut operations costs.

Idris emphasized that the government’s directive aligns with global best practices and has no political motivation whatsoever as wrongly propagated.