Forex crisis: FG Begins Talks With World Bank, Solution Underway

Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has assured Nigerians that a solution to the foreign exchange crisis in the country is underway.

He made this disclosure yesterday following a meeting with World Bank officials on how to address liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

Speaking in Abuja at the Business Lunch hosted in his honour and three other Ministers, Edun revealed the Federal Government’s plans to tackle the economic challenges facing the country.

“I have just risen from a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee as stipulated by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make sure that there is collaboration, coordination and cooperation. And, as you can imagine, full communication in terms of the economic management of our dear country.

“And so we went through things like the economic management framework, which would include a lot of consultations, step-by-step with other stakeholders, including the private sector that will serve as one of the key ad hoc committees that we put together and the updated and expanded national development plan.

“Even earlier, we were meeting with the World Bank. As we know, this is a time of very tight foreign exchange liquidity. So, it must be sought and found wherever.

“And one of those cheap and viable ways is foreign exchange funding, which virtually comes free. A lot of it has zero interest from the World Bank, a multilateral development institution set up to help developing countries such as ours.

“And of course, you have to be able to tell them, this is the economic plan. You all know the measures that Mr. President has taken. We have briefly dealt with the issue of subsidy that was draining government revenues. He has briefly dealt with the foreign exchange situation and multiple windows, which was deterring investors.

“But as we know, there is much to be done. So, this morning’s session (Thursdays) was a way of explaining our plan to attract the cheapest or most available of those funds.

“So that’s just to spend the time I have with you, explaining myself, communicating and there’s much more of that to be done,” Edun said.

Speaking further, the Minister appealed to the public, emphasizing that the Federal Government is racing against time to proffer solutions to the nation’s economic problems.

“President Tinubu is ultimately encouraging investments that will increase productivity that will grow the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.

“All these will certainly be put on the right trajectory which will yield results in the not-too-distant future.”

Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has maintained a steady decline as the naira continues to fall freely against the dollar, hitting the threshold of N1,000 to 1$ at the parallel market.

According to Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance, this incessant decline is due to the overdue backlog payment of $6.8 billion, resulting in a shortage in the supply of dollars at the CBN.

The Federal Government, however, has said that at the top of the administration’s priority is stabilizing the currency.

The President has recently appointed new CBN leadership to oversee the monetary policies of the apex bank and drive the net inflow of dollars into the country.