President Bola Tinubu has welcomed the latest gross domestic product (GDP) 4.4% growth rate year-on-year in real terms in Q2 this year, describing the improved performance as the results of the administration current reforms encapsulated in the Renewed Hope Agenda.
In a statement issued by the President’s spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Monday on the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Nigeria’s GDP growth rate, Tinubu said the figures came at an important time when critics claimed that his administration’s economic policies had worsened living conditions.
The President said: “In the past three years, we tried to do the hard part by implementing the necessary reforms to stabilise the economy.
“Now the economy is stabilised, and we have laid the foundation for a prosperous nation.
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“We didn’t do the reforms to create challenges, but to ensure prosperity reaches all our people,” Tinubu stressed.
Noting that latest indicators show that the reforms are producing measurable economic results, the President maintained that the results of the efforts were becoming very clear to all, especially in terms of Nigeria’s trade surpluses, stronger foreign reserves, improved credit ratings and increased infrastructure development as evidence of economic recovery.
Tinubu further clarified: “Because of those tough decisions, today Nigeria has trade surpluses. Our foreign reserves are at their highest in 17 years.
“Our credit rating has moved up several notches. We are building roads, railways and superhighways that will last for a long time. Investors who left are returning. Oil and gas production is increasing”, he added.
Tinubu also spoke on developments in education and access to credit, saying reforms are creating opportunities and strengthening social and economic inclusion, adding that for the first time in a long time in the universities, there are no strikes.
According to him, the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) is expanding access to higher education, while affordable credit is being provided to civil servants.
He explained that through the NELFUND, student loans were putting education within reach, just as affordable credit had been extended to civil servants through Creditcorp.
Tinubu, who admitted that the challenge of household welfare remained, promised that the administration would ramp up food production and implement additional relief programmes targeting vulnerable Nigerians and that the “measures will touch lives at the grassroots.”
The President said the government’s priority remained translating stronger macroeconomic performance into tangible improvements in citizens’ daily lives.
He stressed: “Under our watch, the economy is on the irreversible path to experience even more growth that all homes will feel at the dining table and in their pockets.
“We are not resting on our oars. We are fully committed to translating consistent, stronger economic performance into better microeconomic outcomes for our citizens”, the President added.
