On Monday, the administration of President Bola Tinubu claimed that it had inherited a poor economy with a high unemployment rate.
However, the administration promised Nigerians that it would be open, truthful, and accountable to the people and would not rely on borrowing to raise money to fix the country.
When answering questions from reporters after the first Federal Executive Council meeting, which was presided over by Tinubu and held in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said that the Tinubu administration had to deal with a very poor economy with inflation of 24%.
When asked to describe the type of economy the government encountered in practice, he responded, “Per capita had steadily decreased, inflation is at 24%, unemployment is high, and you know they are rebasing the way it’s calculated.
These are the key metrics that we have achieved, and youth unemployment is even higher than is acceptable.
When pressed for more information regarding the economy they encountered on the ground, the minister responded, “We met a bad economy but the promise of Mr. President is to make it better.
Additionally, he stated that the Federal Government was not currently in a position to borrow money and that the focus should be on how to create a macroeconomic environment that would encourage investment and production from both domestic and foreign investors.
According to Dr. Doris Anite, Minister of Trade and Investment, the President needs to create 50 million new jobs.
In the meantime, President Tinubu has issued a directive to the cabinet members to lead the economic recovery and improve people’s quality of life.
At the council meeting where the “Roadmap for the Economy,” presented by the minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy, was discussed, the marching orders were given.
According to Edun, the council concurred that the economy was not performing as it should.
He claimed that the FEC looked at eight priority areas and determined goals to be accomplished in the following three years.
He confirmed that President Tinubu had given the ministers the responsibility for implementing policies and programs to revive the economy.
