Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, says Nigeria’s economy has stabilised, with the Federal Government now shifting its attention to ensuring that economic gains translate into broader prosperity for citizens.
Oyedele disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House correspondents after the 158th meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) in Abuja.
He said Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 3.89 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3.13 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
“Our real Gross Domestic Product growth rate was 3.89 per cent for Q1 of 2026, up from 3.13 per cent one year ago,” he said.
The minister expressed optimism that the economy would grow by more than four per cent in 2026, citing sustained improvements in economic activity.
He also highlighted the decline in inflation, which stood at 15.43 per cent at the end of July 2026, compared with 24.94 per cent a year earlier.
According to Oyedele, Nigeria’s trade surplus almost doubled, rising from N17.7 trillion in 2025 to N34.7 trillion in the first quarter of 2026.
He put public debt at 13.7 per cent of GDP, equivalent to N159.28 trillion, while noting that debt servicing relative to government revenue had dropped from almost 100 per cent in 2022 to below 60 per cent in 2025.
“Debt service as a percentage of revenue is on the decline, from nearly 100 per cent as of 2022 to less than 60 per cent as of 2025,” he said.
Oyedele said the improved economic indicators had also attracted favourable assessments from international credit rating agencies, noting that Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and S&P upgraded Nigeria’s sovereign credit rating between April 2025 and May 2026.
“This is also part of the recognition by the market rating agencies,” he said.
“The first coordinated alignment in over a decade. So, they all agree.”
He further disclosed that Nigeria exited the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025 and the European Union’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing deficiency list in January 2026.
According to him, the developments are expected to reduce the cost and friction associated with cross-border capital flows into Nigeria.
The minister also announced Nigeria’s reclassification from an unclassified market to a frontier market, describing the move as an opportunity to attract additional investment and support faster economic growth.
“Nigeria has now been reclassified to frontier market. This is good news for us as a country,” he said.
“We see opportunities ahead for the country, especially how we accelerate growth and lift our people out of poverty.”
Oyedele said NEC had identified agriculture, energy, manufacturing, mining and the digital economy as priority areas requiring accelerated development.
He noted that 81.4 per cent of Nigerians work in agriculture and non-tradable services, stressing that stronger performance in those sectors would be essential to making economic growth more inclusive.
“Council deliberated that there is a need for us to accelerate growth in these sectors where majority of our people work,” he said.
“That way, we lift them out of poverty and we close the inequality gap.”
Despite the positive indicators, Oyedele acknowledged that the economy continued to face risks, including geopolitical conflicts, commodity shocks, persistent food inflation and election-cycle fiscal risks.
He also cautioned against negative pre-election economic narratives that may not be supported by available data, stressing the importance of ensuring that growth creates jobs and reduces Nigerians’ vulnerability to foreign-exchange shocks.
“There is a tendency to be negative pre-election, even though it is not supported by data, to ensure there is job-rich growth,” he said.
Oyedele said managing the country’s exposure to foreign-exchange shocks would remain critical to sustaining economic stability and ensuring that the current gains translate into wider prosperity for Nigerians.
