2025 budget to attract private investors – Wale Edun

2025 budget to attract private investors â€" Wale Edun

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has stated that the 2025 budget is designed to attract private investors to boost the country’s economy.

Edun expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu’s administration would exceed the budget’s annual growth target of 4.6 percent.

Speaking during an interview with Arise TV on Friday, he assured that funding the ₦49.7 trillion budget would not pose a significant challenge for the government.

He highlighted the $20 billion in savings resulting from the removal of the petrol subsidy as a key resource that would support the effective implementation of the budget.

“The budget is a statement of intent, and as I said earlier, the commitment is not to meet the budget target of 4.6 percent growth per annum. The target that we are saying will take us to where we need to get to and where President Bola Tinubu is committed to taking us is actually 5.5 percent. So we not only have to implement the budget, we have to crowd in a lot of private sector investment to ensure that we grow the economy at the rate at which we need.

“So we are confident that given the work of the economic management team, given the preparation that has gone into the medium-term economic framework, that this budget will be diligently executed. And above all, it’s so important to emphasize that what is the basis of a budget? It is revenue. Where is Nigeria’s revenue headed? Up. Why? Because we have stopped, the President has stopped the hemorrhaging.

“He has stopped the loss of 5 percent of GDP worth 15 to 20 billion dollars a year, and that will just be accruing and growing and available to help implement the budgets, the medium-term economic expenditure framework, and indeed the planned strategies and programs of the government of President Bola Tinubu,” he said.

Addressing concerns about borrowing in the budget, Wale Edun explained that the government is prioritizing the acquisition of the most affordable and secure loans.

He further highlighted that private investors have shown strong confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, which enabled the government to raise $9.1 billion in dollar bonds in a single day. Edun emphasized that, while the administration remains committed to reducing the country’s debt burden, it is focused on securing the safest loan options.

“If you go to the 2025 budget proposal, you see a line there that says privatization. That’s a catch-all phrase for crowding in the private sector, whether it’s with concessions, whether it’s through private-public partnerships, whether it’s through adjusting the equity investment in joint ventures. So that is right there. In addition, the commitment is to the private sector.

“The commitment is to ensuring that everything is done to encourage private sector investment in the economy. That is where the large funds are available. As for borrowing, you start with the cheapest type of borrowing. That is concessional finance. We are an IDA country. Our aim is to get out of it, but the International Development Association funding of the World Bank is virtually free, 1% over 40 years. We have taken that, we have earned that, and we’ve got the encouragement and support for the President’s programs for the macroeconomic reforms by having a full support, $1.5 billion this year from the World Bank.

“In addition, you take other bilateral funding that’s available, but when you do go to the international capital market and they support you, as they did Nigeria, where we just sought to finish our borrowing program for the year, having taken advantage of the cheapest sources of funds, we now went to the open market. We asked for $2.2 billion. We started at 9 a.m. in London, offices of the investment bankers. By 12 we had $4 billion. By 4 p.m. we had $9.1 billion. It’s a sign of confidence. It’s a sign of the trust and belief in the macroeconomic reforms and strategies of the government. It was a good day for Nigeria,” Edun stated.