The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, says that President Bola Tinubu has stabilized the nation’s economy, therefore, should be given the credit for achieving that.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala stated this on Thursday, shortly after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Her judgment was contrary to the popular views in the country that the economic reforms introduced by the administration have not only destabilised the nation’s economy, but have impoverished Nigerians, pointing at the Inflation, GDP and Exchange rates.
However, she said the reforms have been in the right direction, stating that what is next is growth.
“President Tinubu and his team have worked hard to stabilize the economy. And you cannot really improve the economy unless it is stable. So, he has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction. What is needed next is growth.
“We now need to grow the economy, and we need to put in a social safety net, so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to be able to weather the hardship. So that is the next step.
“How do we build a social safety net to help Nigerians cushion the hardship they are feeling, and how do we grow the economy so that we can create more jobs and put money in people’s pockets? These are issues that we discussed with Mr. President,” she said.
TheFact Daily gathered that Okonjo-Iweala was at the villa to brief President Tinubu on the Women Exporters Fund for 146 Nigerian business women.
Recall that on July 7th, Tinubu met with Okonjo-Iweala on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Brazil, to discuss Nigeria’s successful bid for the International Trade Centre Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, designed to support women in digital trade.
The fund will help scale up women-owned enterprises in the digital space in Nigeria.
