Yesterday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the economy is not in distress and the current situation is not beyond redemption.
He stressed that efforts were on to navigate the country out of the current challenges.
According to him, the latest economic indicators do not portray a country in distress.
Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, who backed Tinubu’s reforms, said time was needed to address the issues.
They spoke at the 16th Leadership Conference and Awards held at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja. Its theme was: “An economy in distress: which way forward?”
The event was organised by Abuja-based Leadership Newspaper.
The President acknowledged that the country is faced with challenges but is not helpless.
He said: “I should start by respectfully challenging the notion that the Nigerian economy is in distress.
“Distress suggests helplessness, being at the mercy of something we have no control over. But that is not the case here.
“We are in challenging times, no doubt, but these times have also been marked by unprecedented opportunities to reset the course and to build a new and sustainable economy, away from the rent-seeking and the waste that was once the order of the day.
“The Leadership Group has itself alluded to the ‘difficult but necessary’ decisions that we have taken.
“Since the removal of petrol subsidy, our imports of petrol have dropped by about 50 per cent, which translates to roughly one billion litres of petrol every month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
“In addition, the revenues accruing to the three tiers of Government – Federal, State and Local – have grown by between 50 per cent and 100 per cent since the removal of the petrol subsidy.
“This means more funds are available to directly impact the lives of Nigerians through investments in critical infrastructure, social security, and other areas.”
