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LequteMan
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According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria can overcome slowing growth with spending to boost the country's infrastructure.
The vice president said the government plans to create a $25 billion fund combining public and private financing to develop infrastructure, Bloomberg reports.
Nigeria's economy had been hit by a sizable drop in revenue following the decline in crude oil prices, the country's main source of income and foreign exchange.
Nigeria's credit rating has been downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. removed Nigeria from its local-currency emerging market indexes.
“We think that the way out of this, what some have described as an impending recession, is actually to spend rather than to cut back in any way,” Osinbajo said in an interview on Tuesday.
Exchange rate controls have been “largely successful” and “inevitable in the short term” as the central bank has looked to slow the draw-down in foreign-exchange reserves, said Osinbajo. The country’s reserves have dropped to about $30 billion, down from almost $40 billion a year ago, from defending the local currency. The naira has declined about 8 percent against the dollar since the start of the year.
He added that government is “mindful that we maintain foreign exchange reserves so at least that we are able to keep investor confidence high, especially direct investment."
The vice president said the government plans to create a $25 billion fund combining public and private financing to develop infrastructure, Bloomberg reports.
Nigeria's economy had been hit by a sizable drop in revenue following the decline in crude oil prices, the country's main source of income and foreign exchange.
Nigeria's credit rating has been downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. removed Nigeria from its local-currency emerging market indexes.
“We think that the way out of this, what some have described as an impending recession, is actually to spend rather than to cut back in any way,” Osinbajo said in an interview on Tuesday.
Exchange rate controls have been “largely successful” and “inevitable in the short term” as the central bank has looked to slow the draw-down in foreign-exchange reserves, said Osinbajo. The country’s reserves have dropped to about $30 billion, down from almost $40 billion a year ago, from defending the local currency. The naira has declined about 8 percent against the dollar since the start of the year.
He added that government is “mindful that we maintain foreign exchange reserves so at least that we are able to keep investor confidence high, especially direct investment."
