MOGHALU: TINUBU SERIOUSLY MESSED UP WHEN HE REMOVED THE FUEL AND FOREX SUBSIDIES.

Babatunji wusu –

Kingsley Moghalu, a former presidential contender, claims President Bola Tinubu was unable to successfully remove the fuel and foreign exchange subsidies that precipitated a wave of economic misery in the nation.

According to the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the policies were implemented by the government without enough planning for their impact on the populace.

During his keynote address at the “Leadership Newspaper Group 2024 Conference and Awards,” which took place in Abuja on Tuesday, he made this claim.

However, the political economist stated that the federal government’s recent economic reforms were necessary to handle the current economic difficulties.

Additionally, Moghalu said that while the decisions to eliminate the FX and gasoline subsidies were brave and right, they were poorly executed.

He said, “Nigerians should first have been educated on the economics of why these subsidies had to go, and on what steps the government was taking to mitigate the anticipated impact; that is, with a subsidised mass transportation system across the country.

“The forex reforms at the central bank should have benefitted from prior, in-depth consultations with institutional investors who are the movers of global capital and in the absence of robust revenues from oil, influence forex liquidity through capital importation.”

Moghalu posited that the exchange rate unification and further efforts to “float” the naira in an environment awash with naira liquidity were mistakes.

He claimed that because there was no quick monetary tightening to go along with the move, it aided in the naira’s downward spiral.