Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has assured Nigerians that the government and private sector’s spending for the 2015 general elections will not lead to inflation.
She said that all necessary measures had been put in place to check the inflation rate.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala gave the assurance in Washington at the end of the IMF/ World Bank meeting on Saturday.
The Finance Minister, who is also the Coordinating Minister of the Nigerian Economy, also said that the nations budget had been implemented as approved by the National Assembly.
She assured Nigerians and members of the international community that the nation’s financial system had remained stable.
“Activities leading to the polls will not in any way lead to an increase in inflation rate,”she said.
Economy Is Doing Well
While prices of oil at the international market is falling in recent times, Dr Okonjo-Iweala stressed that there was a contingency plan to avoid shocks that were likely to come with the fall in oil prices.
It is barely four months to the 2015 general elections and preparations for its success are ongoing, with expectations that there would be huge spending by politicians. many Nigerians had expressed fears that there would be too much money in circulation due to political activities.
But there is no cause for alarm, that is what the Minister of Finance is saying.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, also gave his words on the nation’s financial stability.
He is optimistic that key sectors of the economy such as; agriculture, oil and gas and the solid mineral sectors had played a key role in achieving the stability and that such stability would be maintained.
Government officials have continued to provide needed statistics on the performance of the nations economy, saying “it has done well”.
What many Nigerians hope to see is the translation of all of the improvements in their lives. Despite these claims, the poverty rate in the nation is still high, something that the Finance Minister says it will reduce in coming years.
