Okonjo-Iweala seeks social safety sets to cushion hardship for Nigerians

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on the federal government to put social safety nets in place for poor Nigerians who are feeling the pains of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.

Okonjo-Iweala stated this on Thursday after a meeting with the President at Aso Villa in Abuja.

Though she commended the president for the economic reforms including petrol subsidy removal and the unification of the foreign exchange windows, the former Nigerian finance minister asked the government to ensure poor Nigerians have help to cope with the economic hardship occasioned by the reforms.

She said, “We think that the President and his team have worked hard to stabilize the economy. You cannot really improve an economy unless it is stable. So, he has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction.

“What is needed next is growth; we now need to grow the economy and we need to put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some support to weather the hardship. That’s the next step.”

Okonjo-Iweala seeks social safety sets to cushion hardship for Nigerians