Nearly two years after their implementation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated on Friday that the Nigerian government’s stringent economic reforms have not yet translated into benefits for the average Nigerian citizen.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu initiated a comprehensive economic reform program after assuming office in May 2023, which both the government and the IMF deemed essential to rectify the country’s public finances.
However, these measures have imposed hardship on many ordinary Nigerians, who are currently facing the most severe cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Axel Schimmelpfennig, the IMF Mission Chief for Nigeria, acknowledged in a statement that the government has taken “important steps to stabilise the economy, enhance resilience, and support growth.”
However, he added that these “gains have yet to benefit all Nigerians, as poverty and food insecurity remain high,” following nearly two weeks of standard discussions with government officials and civil society representatives within the country.
Schimmelpfennig cautioned that “the outlook is marked by significant uncertainty,” noting that increased global instability and declining oil prices will also affect the Nigerian economy.
Despite this, he stated that Tinubu’s reforms have placed the economy in a “better position to navigate this external environment.”
The reform measures include the liberalization of the weakened naira, the removal of fuel subsidies that had maintained low petrol prices for decades, and the cessation of the Central Bank’s financing of the fiscal deficit.
In October, the World Bank reported a significant increase in poverty in Nigeria over the preceding six years, with over half the population, or 129 million people, now living in poverty.
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