ABUJA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's economy is set to become more favorable for citizens in 2025, President Bola Tinubu said Wednesday, projecting restored macroeconomic stability, an improved business environment, employment opportunities and poverty reduction.
While presenting the 2025 national budget to a joint session of the bicameral legislature in the capital Abuja, Tinubu told lawmakers that the economy of Africa's most populous country is gradually rebounding.
"Our economy is responding positively to stimulus measures. We aim to further stimulate the economy by implementing targeted fiscal stimulus packages through public expenditures and specific non-inflationary spending," the president said while presenting the government's budget or expenditure bill of 49.8 trillion nairas (about 32 billion U.S. dollars) for the coming year.
"The reforms we have instituted are beginning to yield results. Nigerians will soon experience a better and more functional economy," he said.
Noting that global economic growth for the outgoing year 2024 is projected at 3.2 percent, Tinubu said the Nigerian economy made significant progress "against predictions," achieving a growth rate of 3.46 percent in the third quarter (Q3) of the year, up from 2.54 percent in Q3 2023.
According to Tinubu, Nigeria's foreign reserves now stand at nearly 42 billion dollars, providing a robust buffer for Africa's largest economy against external shocks.
Citing reports from the National Bureau of Statistics, the president said that Nigeria's rising exports have contributed to the current trade surplus, which now stands at 5.8 trillion nairas (about 3.7 billion dollars).
"These clear indicators of gradual recovery, among others, reflect the resilience of our economy and the impact of deliberate policy choices we made from the outset," he said.
With a target of 34.82 trillion nairas (about 22.4 billion dollars) in revenue to fund the 2025 budget, Tinubu said that government expenditure is projected to be 47.9 trillion nairas (about 30.8 billion dollars), including 15.81 trillion nairas (about 10.2 billion dollars) allocated for debt servicing.
"This is an ambitious but necessary budget to secure our future," the Nigerian leader noted. He said the government aims to reduce inflation from its current rate of 34.6 percent to 15 percent, improve the foreign exchange rate from about 1,700 nairas per U.S. dollar to 1,500 nairas, and assume a base crude oil production level of 2.06 million barrels per day.
Tinubu said that the ongoing economic reforms initiated by his administration 18 months ago would not be reversed but instead strengthened to build on the progress made toward creating a more robust, equitable, predictable and globally competitive economy.
