Ongoing foreign exchange liberalization meant to close loopholes, gaps — Minister

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The ongoing liberalization of the foreign exchange regime is designed to close loopholes and gaps that have been exploited in very unscrupulous ways over the years, leading to the loss of billions of dollars in our scarce, hard-earned resources, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris has said.
Idris said the combined impact of these reforms has no doubt produced pain for many citizens, which the President and the administration have never shied away from.
According to him: “No serious government seeks to inflict burdens on its people. We are very clear in explaining that these pains being felt are a short-term sacrifice to make for the kind of country that we want and that we deserve.
“In his Independence Day address to the nation, on October 1, 2023, President Tinubu said, and I quote: “Reform may be painful, but it is what greatness and the future require.
“We now carry the costs of reaching a future Nigeria where the abundance and fruits of the nation are fairly shared among all, not hoarded by a select and greedy few. A Nigeria where hunger, poverty and hardship are pushed into the shadows of an ever-fading past.
“There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future. My government is doing all that it can to ease the load.
“Indeed, the Tinubu Administration is taking all the necessary steps to alleviate these pains, and cushion the impact of the foundational reforms we are embarking on.”