By Mariam Abeeb
The Finance Minister, Mr Taiwo Oyedele said that Nigeria’s net foreign reserves have risen to more than $45 billion from less than $1 billion in 2023.
Oyedele, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
He attributed the improvement to economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The minister said Nigeria’s economic growth rate increased from 2.74 per cent in May 2023, when the reforms began, to 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026.
He added that economic growth in US dollar terms reached 17 per cent in the first half of 2026, placing Nigeria among the leading contributors to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.
Oyedele said inflation declined to 14.63 per cent in September from 20.98 per cent a year earlier, following a peak of approximately 34 per cent.
He said the removal of petrol subsidies and foreign exchange market adjustments helped avert a deeper economic crisis.
According to him, subsidy removal in 2023 addressed a longstanding structural problem that had persisted for about five decades, with its benefits beginning to accrue.
Oyedele added that the naira had stabilised, trading between N1,330 and N1,350 to the dollar.
On public finance, he said Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio rose from about seven per cent in 2023 to approximately 12.5 per cent at the end of 2025.
He added that the debt-service-to-revenue ratio declined from nearly 100 per cent to below 60 per cent.
The minister said Federation Account allocations increased by 44 per cent between 2024 and 2025, with the government projecting a further increase of at least 50 per cent in 2026.
He maintained that revenue growth remained significant even after accounting for inflation.
On the social impact of the reforms, Oyedele said more than N372.6 billion had been disbursed to over 1.5 million students through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
He added that more than 10 million households had received cash transfers worth over N600 billion, with the government targeting at least 15 million households.
According to him, more than 800,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) had benefited from subsidised single-digit interest loans.
He said low-income earners receiving up to N100,000 monthly were exempted from personal income tax under the tax reforms.
Oyedele added that eligible small businesses with annual turnover not exceeding N100 million were exempted from corporate income tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and withholding tax, subject to applicable provisions.
He further disclosed that Nigeria’s capital market had expanded from about N30 trillion to more than N160 trillion in three years.
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