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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Dele Oye: Huge FX Reserves and 4.43% Growth Must Lead to Lower Food Prices and More Jobs

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Dele Oye said reforms under President Bola Tinubu had improved Nigeria's macroeconomic stability but had not yet delivered broad gains to households.
  • He cited foreign exchange reserves of $53.11 billion as of Aug. 24, 2026, and second-quarter growth of 4.43%, up from 3.89% in the previous quarter.
  • Oye said the government should use the improved position to reduce food prices, create productive jobs and address poverty and food insecurity.

Nigeria's economy may be stabilising, but Dele Oye says the next test is whether ordinary people feel the improvement in their daily lives.

Oye, chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics, credited President Bola Tinubu's administration with taking politically difficult decisions. He cited the removal of the petrol subsidy, foreign exchange reforms, the end of monetary financing of fiscal deficits, the rebuilding of external reserves and tighter monetary policy.

The economy is stabilising. Now let the people feel it.

· Dele OyeThe title of his statement called for economic gains to reach ordinary Nigerians.

In a statement titled “The Economy Is Stabilising. Now Let the People Feel It,” Oye said those measures had addressed distortions that weakened the foundations of the economy. But he argued that macroeconomic stability marked only the beginning. The reforms, he said, should now produce lower food prices, productive employment and improved living standards.

Oye pointed to foreign exchange reserves that reached a 17-year high of $53.11 billion on Aug. 24, 2026, and said the figure had since reached $54 billion. He also cited National Bureau of Statistics data showing that the economy grew 4.43% year on year in the second quarter, compared with 3.89% in the previous quarter. Both the oil and non-oil sectors recorded stronger growth, he said.

Nigerians should be honest enough to acknowledge progress when progress has been made and courageous enough to say when progress has not yet become prosperity.

· Dele OyeHe urged Nigerians to recognise macroeconomic progress while noting its limited effect on living standards.

The former president of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture said the figures indicated movement from stability toward momentum. But stronger reserves and higher gross domestic product would not automatically improve welfare.

Oye cited an International Monetary Fund assessment from June 2026 that estimated poverty at 63% at the national poverty line and said 27 million Nigerians faced food insecurity in autumn 2025. “Nigerians should be honest enough to acknowledge progress when progress has been made and courageous enough to say when progress has not yet become prosperity,” he said. “The Tinubu administration deserves credit for taking decisions that many Nigerian governments postponed for years.”

The Tinubu administration deserves credit for taking decisions that many Nigerian governments postponed for years.

· Dele OyeHe praised the administration's politically difficult economic measures.
About this summary

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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