Edun said the money printed by the CBN through Ways and Means overdraft for the Federal Government threw the country into inflation.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun, has blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under former President Muhammadu Buhari for the inflation being experienced in the country.
During an interface with the Senate Committee on Finance on Wednesday, Edun said the N22.7 trillion printed by the CBN through Ways and Means overdraft for the Federal Government from 2015 to 2023 threw the country into inflation.
According to him, the printing of naira in trillions was not followed up with productive activities.
He said, “We talked about inflation, and you have helped to solve that. Where has it come from?
“It came from the eight years of just printing money not matched by productivity. It’s not like when you earn dollars and you free the naira alongside it, although there’s even a better way than that. But that’s still not as bad.
“It’s not as if the money is matched by productivity increase in output. It is not. And what happened was that for eight years, the weak were left to their own devices. It is the privileged few that took everything.”
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He added, “You distinguished senators have helped. You have given us the mandate to raise N7tn, which we will do by sucking money from the market, using it to pay back the central bank and giving the government a balanced book. We are going to audit even the N22.7tn printed aimlessly.”
Edun, however, assured the committee members that various damage-mitigating economic policies being rolled out by the present government, would in no distant time, bring about great recoveries in terms of lower inflation rate and improved GDP growth rate.
He specifically informed the committee members that rather than indulging in such money printing or seeking for avoidable loans, the President Bola Tinubu-led government is succeeding greatly in the area of revenue generation with over N13tn revenue generated from the non-oil sector in 2023, adding that the trajectory is being improved upon in 2024.
He stated, “We should not be despondent. We have done the hard part. Mr. President, through the bold and courageous measures which are recognised around the world as being beyond the usual, what you would normally see.
“To so riskily and robustly change the things that are wrong. And it wasn’t just a set of measures. It’s not just lifting of subsidy here or margin of rates there. No. It is a strategic plan, the whole fiscal side, the government’s finances have been repaired.”
Edun further stated, “You, distinguished senators, have helped further to encourage and enrol the executive to further repair the finances, the fiscal situation of this country by endorsing and urging us to do something about the leakages in the import duty, waiver system. And we have explained to you what we will do. And even from your body language, I believe you feel that that is in the right direction.”