Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning says the cost of finance has remained one of the country’s significant challenges.
Ahmed said this at the ongoing 36th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
She lamented the soaring inflation, especially food inflation, amid a weakened Naira against foreign currencies and a rising debt profile.
“We have high food prices. Inflation is at a very high rate and still climbing. The Naira also weakens against other foreign currencies, increasing our debt service obligations.
“There is also the cost of financing when we must go to the market and need support.
” We end up going at a very high cost compared to European countries whose economies are not as strong as ours,” she said.
