Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended President Bola Tinubu for stabilising Nigeria’s economy, describing it as a necessary foundation for future growth.
Speaking to journalists after a courtesy visit to the President at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, Okonjo-Iweala said the reforms introduced by the administration were in the right direction.
“We think that the president and his team have worked hard to stabilise the economy. You cannot really improve an economy unless it’s stable,” she said. “Tinubu has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy.”
The former finance minister, however, stressed that the next phase should focus on driving economic growth and protecting vulnerable citizens from the impact of reforms.
“We now need to grow the economy and put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can have some support to weather the hardship,” she said. “The question now is how do we build these safety nets to help Nigerians, and how do we grow the economy to create more jobs and put more money in people’s pockets?”
She said these issues had been discussed with the president but did not provide further details.
