Business
Buhari meets World Bank over economy (Photos)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met with the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Bank, Ms Sri Mulyani Indrawati at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
It was learnt that discussions at the closed door meeting bordered on the challenges facing Nigeria including economy, security, corruption and climate change.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Indrawati said that it was a very short but very productive visit.
She said: “This is a good opportunity for us to discuss with the government to understand the challenges the Nigerian economy is facing just like many other countries in the world which is now facing weak global economy, low commodity price in goods and oil price, challenge of climate change and insecurity. These are all the issues that we discussed.
“We also see that Nigeria and the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is now launching the objective of restoring stability and security, the second one is creating jobs and eradicating poverty, the third is fighting corruption. I think these are very commendable goals and we discussed with the government about how we can support the law in order for the government and its leadership to achieve the goals.
“We had the opportunity to meet with five governors of different states in order to discuss more on our programmes to support with the North-East region, especially dealing with Internally Displaced People and how to restore both the livelihood of the people with the development programme.
“So we discussed both in terms of what is the area of priority, the mode of engagement and the operational details of how this is going to be used in the most effective way. We also discussed more in terms of the need to diversify the economy away from oil. We also discussed on how to improve the fiscal side with the minister of finance under her leadership and try to improve on the revenue side, whether to improve collection tax as well as to fight against inefficiency and corruption. That is one of the areas which is commendable,” she added.
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According to her, World Bank would like to support all the objectives so that Nigeria will have a healthy, stronger and transparent budget, towards tackling poverty and boosting inclusive growth.
Pressed further, the World Bank boss said: “We also discussed about how to support the management of natural resources, especially the oil, which I think Nigeria has its own reform agenda to improve the governance and management of the oil sector.
“I think that is important goal which is being launched by the Federal Government. That is the area that i think we would like to support in any way we could so that it can be delivered, in terms of a healthy sector, good governance as well as effectively supporting the need of the people and the economy.
“We had time to discuss with the President and the Vice President about the need of a wider economic agenda. We discussed
about the agricultural sector, infrastructure, but also the need to pursue and continue doing a very difficult reform.
“This is a time which Nigeria is now facing. It is not easy, there is a lot of policy choices that needs to be done. We would like to know how we can help Nigeria to make the very important decisions, whether on micro economic policy and other sectoral policy that will make this economy to move forward to become a strong middle income country to have a much more inclusive growth, to have a vibrant economic activity and creating job and eradicating poverty.
“So we discussed a lot of all the policy reforms that the government is now doing and what is the policy choices as well as the difficulties that the government is now facing. The last thing I would like to add is that the President is paying a very heavy attention on infrastructure and agriculture, that is one area we would also like to support with our own idea from the private sector arm of the world bank,” she stated.
Photos: Courtesy Presidency
R-L; Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, MD/CEO WorldBank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Rachid Benmessaoud and others after a press briefing at the villa.
R-L; CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, MD/CEO World Bank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani, Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari and Vice President World Bank Group, Mr Jan Walliser during an audience with the World Bank Group at the State House in Abuja.
L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari, CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Oyeama during an audience with the World Bank Group at the State House in Abuja.
R-L; President Muhammadu Buharichat with the MD/CEO World Bank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani during an audience with the World Bank Group at the State House in Abuja.
R-L; CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Chief of Staff to the President Mallam Abba Kyari, President Muhammadu Buhari and MD/CEO World Bank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani during an audience with the World Bank Group at the State House in Abuja.
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun flanked by MD/CEO WorldBank Group, Ms. Sri Mulyani and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Alhaji Mahmoud Dutse, briefing at the villa.
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