Dare Babalola
President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Economic Affairs, Dr Tope Fasua has claimed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is overrated.
Tope Fasua, who spoke on Tuesday, was reacting to a statement by the international organisation which expressed concerns over the high inflation rate in Nigeria, advising the Federal Government to intensify its economic reform efforts.
In the country-focused article released on Monday, titled “How Nigeria Can Unleash Its Economic Potential,” the Fund noted that current challenges such as high inflation, widespread poverty, and weak infrastructure continued to hinder growth despite ongoing policy shifts.
“The country needs stronger and more sustained growth to lift millions of people out of poverty and food insecurity, which is what the authorities are focusing on,” the IMF said on Monday.
Reacting during an interview on Tuesday, the president’s aide accused the international organisation of politicising the rate of inflation in Nigeria.
He said, “Sometimes, one wants to think that the IMF goes into overdrive, it is like almost every week, they talk about Nigeria and it leaves everyone in a state of confusion. They are the lenders themselves, that’s an institution we paid $3 billion a few weeks ago, exiting their COVID-19 package which most other countries have not been able to exit.
“Just last week, I saw a statement from them saying they are aware that their statements are unpopular in Nigeria. On one hand, the statement kind of pits the people against the government, on the other hand, they are also making all sorts of grandstanding.”
Furthermore, he condemned the IMF for asking if the policies of the two-year-old Tinubu administration are good enough, maintaining that the government has not been given enough time for its policies to germinate.
Fasua stated, “That’s not the question. A house is really dilapidated and you’re asking of getting all the comforts back in two years when you have to move the root and even their foundation. Tinubu’s administration has done one of the deepest reforms we’ve seen in a while.
“Sometimes, it looks like the IMF’s advisory and lending business clash, we don’t know which one to believe.”
In addition, the economist called for Nigeria to invest in data sovereignty rather than depending on Western data.
He said, “The government has the right to ask for a break and see how a certain policy pans out, we don’t have to pitch against the people so badly, let people breathe. Sometimes, these statements make one feel like they are overrated, we should actually go get our own data rather than running to some of those institutions all the time, we must invest in our data and have our data sovereignty.”
