By Brad Haynes
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Nigeria must double economic growth in the next year or two from an annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter to lift its population out of poverty, its finance minister told Reuters on Thursday at the World Economic Forum. annual assembly.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, said Nigeria is on a growth path after a year of tough economic reforms that led to a spike in inflation, but should open the door to more investment.
Edun said he met in Davos this week with business leaders in the consumer goods, food and beverage, financial services and infrastructure sectors to promote investment, he said in an interview on Thursday.
“Now it’s a steady trickle. What we want is a flow and at the end of the day a flood of investment,” he said.
Nigeria is trying to boost private investment instead of relying on borrowing to create jobs as the government looks for a solution to sluggish growth, double-digit inflation and a heavy debt burden.
President Bola Tinubu has promised to expand the economy by at least 6% a year, create jobs and stabilize the exchange rate, while also tackling rampant insecurity.
Tinubu ended the popular but expensive petrol subsidy and removed restrictions on foreign exchange trading. This has contributed to consumer inflation, but Edun expressed confidence that Nigerians will soon overcome the cost of living crisis.
Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso said on Thursday that he expects the economy to expand by 4.17% this year, boosted by ongoing reforms and stabilization of inflation.
