Nigerians Should Expect A Stronger Naira, Fall In Price Of Commodities – Presidency

The presidency has maintained that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is on track with its economic reforms and Nigerians would soon reap the rewards.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, who made the submission, said with the foreign exchange policies introduced by the government and the resumption of full operations by the refineries, a stronger Naira should be achieved by the first quarter of 2025.

Speaking during a chat with State House correspondents on Thursday, Ngelale appreciated Nigerians for their sacrifices so far and called for more patience.

He added that while the reforms are already showing positive results, the time is not ripe for the nation to rest the policies and other efforts to strengthen the Naira.

The presidential spokesperson noted that with the refineries soon to be working and the Naira getting stronger, prices of market commodities would also reduce.

“The President has been very consistent in his view that the labour pains felt by our people and the incredible sacrifices made by our people over the past 10 months would be rewarded across the board.

“The President’s multi-faceted approach to ridding the nation’s foreign exchange market of malign actors and sharp practices have provided a platform for the sustainable strengthening of our national currency against all global currencies and this is what we are seeing.

“But there is still much work to be done and this is not a time for celebration. It is a time for doubling down and working harder to ensure that inflation is sustainably brought down in short order and that consumer protecting regulatory agencies step up enforcement to ensure that our people are not short-changed by enterprises that fail to reflect the prevailing exchange rates on the pricing of goods and services across the board.

“As our private and publicly-owned refineries resume operations between now and the first quarter of 2025, the nation’s cash position will dramatically improve to the extent that Nigerians can rightly expect a stronger Naira and a fair reflection of its strength in the prices of commodities in the market place.

“Once you join the rising spending power of Africa’s population with the historic availability of trillions of naira for consumer credit that will bolster the real sector, you will see why Nigerians will be most pleased that they elected a financial engineer and businessman as president by the end of his first term in office, even as the signs are increasingly more evident today,” he said.