Obi, former governor of Anambra State and one-time Chairman of Fidelity Bank, said his government will stop borrowing for consumption, and ensure that exchange rate will henceforth be determined by the forces of demand and supply.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, has laid out the steps he will take in revamping the country’s comatose economy if he is elected president of Nigeria in 2023.
Obi, who is presently touring Europe and America to sell his candidacy to Nigerians in the Diaspora, said he will create an enabling environment for the country’s startups to thrive, create access to easy funding and enforce the legal framework protecting foreign investors and their indigenous partners.
Obi, former governor of Anambra State and one-time Chairman of Fidelity Bank, also said that his government will stop borrowing for consumption, and ensure that exchange rate will henceforth be determined by the forces of demand and supply.
Obi made all these known in a series of tweets via his verified Twitter handle, @PeterObi, from the United States of America.
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Using the roaring success of Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent, to buttress his point, Obi tweeted:
“Flutterwave, on its own, was recently valued at US$3 billion. We will create an enabling environment for our startups to thrive. Beyond creating access to easy funding, and enforce the legal framework protecting foreign investors and their indigenous partners.
“We will enforce the legal framework protecting foreign investors and their indigenous partners. This is the only way to improve our business environment and temper capital flight.
“We will stop borrowing for consumption. All loans must be invested in regenerative projects. Inflation is a factor of spending on goods and services outstripping production. Since we have not resolved the minimum wage issue, we will not use wage and price controls to fight inflation. Rather, we will pursue a contractionary monetary policy. We will mop up excess liquidity by reducing the money supply within an economy.”
On the issue of exchange rate, Obi said: “The truth is that for long market forces have not determined the exchange rate of the Naira. The two tier foreign exchange regime is a fluke. It has to end. Let the exchange rate be determined by the forces of demand and supply. It is that simple.
“Government must continue to collaborate with the organized private sector in this regard. Creating the enabling environment for raising employment must start with expanding the SMEs cluster via unfettered access to funding.”
