Nigeria’s economic reforms generated ₦20.4 trillion in incremental resources for the Federal Government between June 2023 and December 2025, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has disclosed….
Nigeria’s economic reforms generated ₦20.4 trillion in incremental resources for the Federal Government between June 2023 and December 2025, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has disclosed.
Oyedele made this known on Wednesday while presenting the Federal Government’s Nigeria’s Reform Scorecard in Abuja.
He said the resources came largely from subsidy savings, additional borrowing and improved independent revenue.
According to the scorecard, subsidy reforms generated ₦15.8 trillion for the Federation during the period.
Of this amount, ₦5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government, while ₦10.4 trillion was shared among states and local governments.
The Federal Government also generated ₦3.1 trillion in incremental independent revenue, principally through improved remittances from government-owned entities.
Another ₦11.9 trillion came from incremental borrowing.
Oyedele said the government’s incremental resources helped fund ₦30.64 trillion in additional expenditure during the period.
The largest expenditure item was wage-related spending, which accounted for ₦9.39 trillion.
Another ₦9.37 trillion went into external debt servicing, while ₦6.5 trillion was invested in strategic infrastructure.
The minister said the figures demonstrated that subsidy removal was not principally a revenue-raising exercise.
“The reform was never introduced for revenue purposes, but to address entrenched corruption in an artificially managed fuel subsidy and foreign exchange market,” he said.
He explained that 58 per cent of the Federal Government’s incremental resources came from borrowing, 27 per cent from subsidy savings and 15 per cent from other revenue.
Despite incremental spending of ₦30.64 trillion, he said about two-thirds was funded from the new resources generated during the period, while the remaining roughly ₦10 trillion came from the existing revenue base.
Oyedele described this as evidence of improved public financial management, particularly following the government’s decision to end excessive Ways and Means financing.
He said the legacy Ways and Means stock of about ₦30 trillion had been curtailed instead of being allowed to grow substantially.
The government also recorded improvements in Nigeria’s external financial position.
Gross foreign reserves rose from about $35 billion in May 2023 to $52.5 billion, while net reserves increased from approximately $3 billion to $34.8 billion.
Oyedele said the latter figure was a more meaningful measure of Nigeria’s actual external buffer.
The foreign exchange reforms also significantly narrowed the premium between the official and parallel markets.
According to the scorecard, the premium, which had exceeded 60 per cent before the reforms, is now below five per cent.
The minister said the government’s projection showed that the premium could have exceeded 150 per cent if the pre-reform system had continued.
Other indicators cited by Oyedele include the expansion of stock market capitalisation from about ₦31 trillion to roughly ₦150 trillion and an improvement in real GDP growth from 2.31 per cent to 3.89 per cent.
Headline inflation also declined from 22.41 per cent in May 2023 to 15.91 per cent in June 2026, while food inflation fell from 24.82 per cent to 17.52 per cent.
The government further cited Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating upgrade by S&P Global in May and the country’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force grey list as evidence of improving confidence in the economy.
The Federal Ministry of Finance has identified domestic revenue mobilisation, improved fiscal management, tax reform and a more efficient revenue system as central to Nigeria’s longer-term development financing strategy.
Oyedele, however, said the fiscal improvements should not be mistaken for the completion of the reform process.
He said the next challenge was to convert macroeconomic stability into investment, job creation, productivity and improved living standards.
“The direction is right, and the numbers – costs included – back that up,” he said.
He added that the government would continue to prioritise fiscal discipline, improve the quality of spending, strengthen revenue mobilisation and maintain a unified and predictable foreign exchange system.
