davos, jan. 18, 2023 – Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, says Nigeria can withstand another recession in 2023.
Ahmed said this during an interview with Arise Tv at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos.
She said that the Nigeria’s foreign reserves was enough to trade her obligations if it slipped into recession.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is projecting that a third of the world will be in another recession in 2023.
Ahmed affirmed that the country would withstand the shocks in spite of its dwindling reserves.
“It is true we had higher reserves during the first global recession, our reserves are now down, but still at a healthy level.
“We will be able to meet at least six months of imports on another expense into the country.
“It means we can withstand another global shock if we are going to carry a coordinated response between the monetary, fiscal as well as trade authorities.
“We have learned a lot from the experience that we went through during COVID-19 and it showed that when we plan as one, we can actually withstand the shock.
“When Nigerian economy did go into recession during the COVID, but it was a short-lived one because of that coordinated response which had not just government, but also the private sector contributing to the effort.
“So, with the right policies, we can whether another global recession.”(GBN)
