“As I discussed with His Excellency, the big economic decisions being taken by this government are really important and are being noticed around the world…”
The economic policies of President Bola Tinubu, since he assumed office last month, have been noticed worldwide, including by potential investors in the UK who are “responding very positively,” the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, said Wednesday.
Mr Montgomery stated this after meeting Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House, Abuja.
“As I discussed with His Excellency, the big economic decisions being taken by this government are really important and are being noticed around the world: the removal of subsidy; the exchange rate reform, all of that create a much better investment environment,” he said.
“I was in London last week; I was briefing my ministers, but I was also talking to British business in finance, banking and investment sectors. They are all responding very positively to these first decisions.”
Tinubu was sworn-in on 29 May in Abuja, taking over power from former President Muhammadu
During his inaugural address, shortly after taking the oath of office as Nigeria’s 16th leader, Tinubu took some far-reaching decisions, including the scrapping of the nation’s costly fuel subsidies.
Following the announcement, the NNPCL directed its outlets nationwide to sell fuel between N480 and N570 per litre, an almost 200 per cent increase from the initial price below N200.
The hike immediately triggered an increase in transportation fares and prices of goods and services by various percentages.
Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently announced the unification of all segments of the Nigerian forex market.
The bank collapsed all official windows into the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window. This subsequently led to the close of the spread between the official and unofficial market segments.
Upon announcing the policy, for the first time in fifteen years, the naira traded at a weaker rate at the official market than in the parallel market.
Mongomery on Wednesday acknowledged that some of the policies were not having immediate impacts on challenges faced by Nigerians, such as high inflation and unemployment.
“We know there are tough times that are going on at the moment: inflation and unemployment. The vice president and I also touched on some of the measures that might be possible to cushion the blow of some of these economic pressures,” he said.
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