By Elisha Bala-Gbogbo
ABUJA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Nigeria has entered a phase of economic consolidation after two years of reforms that helped steady inflation, stabilise the currency and lift investor confidence, Finance Minister Wale Edun said on Thursday.
Since taking office in 2023, President Bola Tinubu has rolled out Nigeria's most ambitious economic overhaul in decades by ending costly fuel and energy subsidies, twice devaluing the naira currency and changing the tax system to boost public finances.
The measures unleashed Nigeria's worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation but set the stage for improving macroeconomic indicators the government says are now taking hold. The country's major workers' union has said that Tinubu’s reform‑driven policies hit its members hard, with inflation eroding incomes and pushing millions of people into financial hardship.
Speaking at the launch of a national economic outlook report for the new year, Edun said Nigeria had reached a turning point after a turbulent transition marked by subsidy removal and exchange-rate unification.
Inflation had eased to 14.45% in November from 33.18% a year earlier, while the naira firmed below 1,500 per dollar, Edun said, adding that growth averaged 3.78% in the first nine months of 2025 and external reserves rose to $45.5 billion. The stock market also jumped nearly 60% year‑on‑year.
"Nigeria cannot afford to pause or retreat. The task now is to turn stability into sustained, inclusive and job-rich growth," Edun said.
He forecast 4.68% growth in 2026, with inflation averaging 16.5% and the naira stabilising at around 1,400 per dollar, and sought to calm concerns over Nigeria's 152 trillion naira public debt, saying the jump reflected greater transparency and exchange-rate adjustments rather than new borrowing.
He said 30 trillion naira reflected unrecorded central bank "Ways and Means" support and 49 trillion naira came from forex revaluation. Even so, he said Nigeria's debt-to-GDP ratio sits at 36.1%, below regional and global averages.
Reforms this year will target digitalising revenue collection, stricter treasury controls and pro-poor tax measures to cushion low-income households.
(Reporting by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo, editing by Ed Osmond)
