The Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms (PCFPT) has revealed that without the ongoing economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria would have been forced to print as much as N70 trillion through the Ways and Means window – a move that could have devastated the economy.
Chairman of the committee, Taiwo Oyedele, made this known during an interactive session with journalists and public analysts in Lagos on Friday. He emphasised that the administration’s fiscal and monetary reforms have helped to avert a potential economic catastrophe while restoring discipline to government spending.
‘Without the current reforms, we would not have been able to buy fuel. Dangote Refinery would not have come on board. Without the reforms, the trade deficit would have expanded, the tax-to-GDP ratio would have crashed, and the government would have printed between N60 trillion and N70 trillion,’ Oyedele stated.
He noted that under the current administration, Nigeria no longer prints naira to fund spending, even as the economy continues to feel the effects of excessive monetary expansion under the previous government.
Between 2015 and 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly printed over N30 trillion through Ways and Means advances to fund budget deficits during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure – a practice widely blamed for stoking hyperinflation and worsening poverty levels.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who also spoke at the event, said inflationary pressures are now easing due to the administration’s efforts to restore macroeconomic balance.
‘We talked about inflation, and we have helped to solve that. Where did it come from? It came from eight years of just printing money not matched by productivity,’ Edun explained.
‘It’s not like when you earn dollars and free the naira alongside it – even that’s better. But what we had before was pure monetary indiscipline,’ he said.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate fell to 20.12 percent in August 2025, down from 21.88 percent in July – marking the fifth consecutive month of disinflation.
The NBS also reported that the economy grew by 4.23 percent year-on-year in Q2 2025, up from 3.48 percent in Q2 2024 and 3.13 percent in Q1 2025, largely driven by a rebound in the oil sector and increased non-oil activities.
Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu has rolled out major reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market. These moves, though initially painful, have been credited with stabilising the fiscal environment and attracting renewed interest from foreign investors.
Oyedele noted that the fiscal reforms also aim to boost tax revenues, improve compliance, and ensure that public spending is tied to productivity and infrastructure development.
‘We have to magnify our tax revenue to fund infrastructure and spur economic growth. That’s the only sustainable path forward,’ he said.
In line with improving macroeconomic conditions, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently reduced the benchmark interest rate to 27.00 percent, marking the first rate cut in 2025 after three consecutive holds.
Analysts say the combination of fiscal discipline, disinflation, and cautious monetary easing is setting the stage for a more stable growth trajectory – one that avoids the pitfalls of excessive deficit financing through unchecked money printing.
With reforms now showing measurable progress, both Oyedele and Edun stressed that continued policy consistency will be critical in consolidating the gains made and ensuring Nigeria’s economic recovery remains on track.