President Muhammadu Buhari has said that in spite the fall in oil prices, his administration remains fully committed to maintaining macro-economic stability and improving investor confidence in Nigeria.
A statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari made the statement at an interactive session with chief executives of Indian companies with interests in Nigeria.
According to the president, with its abundance of human and material resources, the Nigerian economy does not have to suffer unduly from low oil prices, despite its severe impact on government revenues.
“What is required of us, to which we are strongly committed, is the implementation of tight expenditure controls, effective fiscal and monetary policies, including the husbandry of scarce resources which our introduction of the Single Treasury Account has begun to address.
“We are aware some of these measures may hurt operations of some businesses in the short term, but we believe they are right for a sustainable economy.”
Buhari, who noted that India had been a dependable ally and friend of Nigeria, urged the chief executives to expand their companies’ investments in Nigeria “so that we can, together, turn our engagements into a win-win situation for our two countries.”
“We can increase and diversify the current volume of our bilateral trade beyond 16.36 billion dollars, and diversify to other critical sectors such as agriculture; green technologies in power generation; infrastructure; information and communications technologies.”
President Buhari also urged the Indian CEOs to accept the changes in policy being introduced by his administration and observe all extant Nigerian laws in running their business in the country.
He, however, warned that his administration would not tolerate the importation of sub-standard goods, especially foods and medicines, into Nigeria.
