According to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria will need the International Monetary Fund’s assistance to reduce the number of children who are not in school and to increase the size of the revenue base.
The president recently made this known when IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva paid him a courtesy call on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brazil, according to a statement released on Thursday by Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
He pointed out that too many Nigerian youngsters are not attending school, which calls for proper education as a means of addressing the country’s hunger and poverty.
He claims that Nigeria talks to Nigerians and stakeholders about the necessity of broadening the tax base in order to support economic growth without necessarily raising taxes.
Tinubu assured the head of the IMF that his government will keep putting the needs of the weak and impoverished first.
We know that education is a means of escaping poverty and hunger, but we still have far too many kids not attending school.
For this reason, we are creating strategies and rewards to keep these youngsters in school, and we need your help to help them stick with their studies.
“We are educating Nigerians and involving stakeholders to broaden the tax base of the economy for inclusive, developmental growth. Since our people have already contributed greatly, we are accomplishing this without necessarily raising taxes. On this, we shall need your assistance,” he stated.
Tinubu informed the head of the IMF that the economic changes implemented by his administration were beginning to show results.
Remember that on June 14, 2023, Tinubu declared that the Naira would be floating on the foreign exchange market and that gasoline subsidies will be eliminated.
Nigerians are currently experiencing economic hardship as a result of the twin policies.
As a result of multiple increases in fuel prices, which ranged from N1060 to N1,115 per litre at Nigerian gas stations, headline inflation jumped to 33.88 percent in October.
On Thursday, November 21, 2024, the Naira’s foreign exchange rate increased from N464 on June 13, 2023, to N1658.57 per dollar.
As of August 2024, 18.5 million children in Nigeria were not attending school, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.