The Finance Minister says the government aims to ensure inflation falls to low single digits before the end of 2027, while Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo calls for faster economic growth and stronger investment in productive sectors……
The Federal Government is targeting a single-digit inflation rate before the end of 2027 as part of efforts to create the conditions for reducing interest rates and making borrowing more affordable for businesses and households.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this on Monday at the Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, where he acknowledged that rising prices continue to limit the benefits of the government’s economic reforms.
Oyedele said the administration’s reforms were already generating benefits through wage adjustments, the settlement of pension arrears and retirement benefits, as well as subsidised credit for small businesses.
However, he stressed that the government needed to accelerate the gains from the reforms to ensure that Nigerians’ incomes rise faster than the cost of living.
According to the minister, savings from foreign exchange and fuel subsidy reforms have helped the government finance measures intended to support citizens and businesses.
He also described the cost of interest payments as a price the government had paid to achieve economic stability, arguing that the benefits of the reforms would become more evident as inflation declined.
Oyedele said the government’s target was to bring inflation down to low single digits before the end of next year, creating room for interest rates to fall to single-digit levels.
He noted that Nigeria’s economic growth rate of 4.43 per cent contrasted sharply with borrowing costs approaching 30 per cent, arguing that lower interest rates could unlock greater investment and economic activity.
The minister said affordable borrowing would make it easier for businesses to expand and enable households to access credit for major purchases without having to save for decades.
He added that combining lower borrowing costs with more affordable credit would create opportunities for businesses and individuals to improve their economic circumstances.
The finance minister also called on Nigerians, particularly wealthy individuals and those with the capacity to pay, to meet their tax obligations in line with existing laws.
He warned that widespread tax evasion could undermine economic stability, forcing the government to rely on other sources of financing and contributing to inflationary pressures.
According to Oyedele, excessive reliance on money creation to finance government expenditure can fuel inflation, while monetary authorities may respond by raising interest rates to contain rising prices.
He said high interest rates increase the cost of doing business, while currency depreciation reduces the value of citizens’ wealth.
Oyedele added that Nigeria’s revenue figures remained too low to support the country’s development ambitions, stressing the importance of improving tax compliance to strengthen public finances.
Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo, who also spoke at the summit, called for closer alignment between the fiscal policies of state governments and the Federal Government’s broader macroeconomic objectives.
Soludo said Nigeria’s economic growth rate of around four per cent represented an improvement on previous performance but questioned whether the pace was sufficient to significantly reduce poverty and create employment.
He argued that the country would need to sustain annual growth rates of between seven and 12 per cent over the next decade to achieve more substantial improvements in living standards.
The governor urged governments at all levels to improve the efficiency of capital expenditure and ensure that public investments generated stronger economic returns.
He also encouraged Nigerians to patronise locally produced goods, saying increased demand for domestic products could support job creation and reduce capital flight.
Soludo warned against taking the country’s improving macroeconomic stability for granted, noting that maintaining policy consistency and broad political and economic agreement would be essential to sustaining progress.
He further argued that Nigeria needed a substantial increase in investment and faster economic expansion to achieve its ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
According to him, reaching that target by 2030 or 2040 would require annual growth of about 12 per cent.
