The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the Nigerian government’s tough economic reforms have yet to benefit the average citizen, nearly two years after their introduction.
Axel Schimmelpfennig, IMF Mission Chief for Nigeria, said in a statement that the Nigerian government had taken “important steps to stabilise the economy, enhance resilience, and support growth”.
But those “gains have yet to benefit all Nigerians, as poverty and food insecurity remain high,” he said following nearly two weeks of routine discussions with government officials and civil society representatives in the country.
“The outlook is marked by significant uncertainty,” he warned, noting that increased global uncertainty and falling oil prices will also impact the Nigerian economy.
Nonetheless, Tinubu’s reforms have put the economy in a “better position to navigate this external environment,” Schimmelpfennig said.
According to him, the reform measures include the liberalisation of the battered naira, the removal of fuel subsidies—which had kept petrol prices low for decades—and ending the Central Bank’s financing of the fiscal deficit.
In October, the World Bank reported that poverty in Nigeria had surged over the past six years, now affecting more than half of the population, with 129 million people living in poverty.
Local media reports on Friday recalled that after assuming office in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu launched a sweeping economic reform programme, which both the government and the IMF described as necessary to correct the country’s public finances.
However, these measures have come at a cost for many ordinary Nigerians, who are experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
GIK/APA