CBN Printing of N22.7trn Under Buhari Reason For Hardship, Inflation - Finance Minister

Posted by Thandiubani on Thu 07th Mar, 2024 - tori.ng

Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, stated this on Wednesday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari's government has been accused of causing the rise in inflation and the current hardship in the country.

This is according to the Minister of Finance, Olawale Edun.

Edun said the printing of N22.7 trillion by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the name of a Ways and Means loan under the government of former president Muhammadu Buhari and ex-CBN governor Godwin Emefiele is the reason for rising inflation and economic hardship in Nigeria.

Edun disclosed this on Wednesday during an interface with the Senate Committee on Finance.

According to him, the Ways and Means loans of N22.7 trillion under the past administration were done aimlessly.

He further stated that the alleged reckless spending of the overdraft collected from the CBN under Emefiele largely accounted for the country’s food and security crises.

He vowed that Tinubu’s government would audit the CBN printing in the last eight years.

He said, “We talked about inflation, and you helped solve that. Where has it come from?

“It came from the eight years of printing money not matched by productivity.

*It’s not like when you earn dollars and free the naira alongside it, although there’s even a better way than that. But that’s still not as bad.

“You distinguished senators have helped. You have given us the mandate to raise N7tn, which we will do by sucking money from the market, using it to pay back the Central Bank and giving the government a balanced book. We are going to audit even the N22.7 trillion printed aimlessly.”

Recall that the Senate resolved to probe the Ways and Means loans under Buhari and Emefiele two weeks ago.