The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said that Nigeria’s economy has rebounded from the brink of total collapse.
The Independent Mirror reports that Sanusi, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made the remark during an interview with News Central on Tuesday.
He attributed the improvement to the economic reforms introduced by the current leadership of the CBN, noting that the lapses in the exchange rate system have been corrected.
Sanusi said, “At the moment, as far as monetary policy is concerned, I have nothing but positive words for what the Central Bank has done.
“We are coming from a background of very high levels of instability as a result of loose money and uncontrolled money supply, and the Central Bank has taken the last year to mop up all that excess liquidity.
“Interest rates are high, yes, but we have stabilised the exchange rate and pulled back from the brink of total economic collapse.”
The former CBN governor further noted that the economy is now growing faster than the population, describing it as a sign that Nigeria is on the right path.
“Inflation is coming down — it’s still around 20%, which is very high — but it has declined from the extremely high levels of a few years ago.
“This is the first time in a long time that the economy is growing faster than the population. Nigeria is on the right path,” he stated.
Speaking on fiscal issues, Sanusi commended the improvement in revenue collection but lamented the high cost of governance.
“We’ve seen better revenue performance, but we are still spending too much on the cost of governance — too many political appointees, too many offices, and too much money wasted on subsidies that do not reach the people,” he said.
