FG grows foreign reserves by $4bn — Edun

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says Nigeria’s foreign reserves grew by four billion dollars since January.

Edun said this on Thursday in Lagos, at an investor meeting for the issuance of $500 million FGN bond.

He said that the aggregate Federal Government revenue had doubled.

The minister said that the implementation of robust fiscal policies and reforms aimed at enhancing revenue collection efficiency across various sectors was responsible for the improvement.

According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the external reserves reached $35.05 billion as at  July.

The CBN had said it planned to double the diasporas’ remittance through a steady flow of foreign exchange into the country.

According to Edun, the macroeconomic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration have begun yielding fruits.

He said that targeted interventions were being implemented across the§ country.

“In macroeconomic reforms, the pains come first before the benefits. There have been interventions that gave direct payments to individuals.

“The process was difficult at first, but with technology and determination, it has been increased.

“Last month, a million households representing five million people received their payments. That will be maintained and increased,” he said.

He said that small scale businesses were getting funds at an interest rate of nine percent per annum.

The minister said that the N70,000 minimum wage and wage adjustment for certain categories of government workers on the consolidated salary structure would soon be implemented.

“The minimum wage is a law, and it is just about following the law. Fiscal autonomy for Local Government Councils is also an aspect that the law deals with,” he said.