- It said such monumental Ways and Means overdraft from the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Buhari’s government is what triggered the nagging and crippling inflation that Nigerians are now grappling with.
The president Bola Tinubu-led federal government has attributed the current inflation in the country to the unprecedented printing of trillions of naira during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said such monumental Ways and Means overdraft from the Central Bank of Nigeria to Buhari’s government is what triggered the nagging and crippling inflation that Nigerians are now grappling with.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made this known on Wednesday during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Finance.
He also disclosed that the N22.7 trillion ‘aimlessly’ printed by Buhari’s government would be audited.
He noted that the Buhari administration went on a money printing galore without commensurate productivity for eight years, leaving many vulnerable citizens to their devices.
He said, “The N22.7 trillion printed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through Ways and Means overdraft for the federal government from 2015 to 2023 landed Nigeria into hyper-inflation.
“We talked about inflation. Where has it come from? It came from 8 years of just printing money not matched by productivity. What happened was that for eight years, the weak were left to their own devices. It is the privileged few that took everything. That is the reality. So that money supply must be brought back.
“You distinguished senators have helped. You have given us the mandate to raise N7 trillion which we will do by sucking money from the market, using it to pay back the CBN and giving the government a balanced book. We are going to audit even the N22.7 trillion printed aimlessly.”
In his closing remarks, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East), said the interactive session would be a continuous exercise so that the committee would have the opportunity of being updated on the short and long term plans of the government on how to tackle the current economic situation of the country