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Buhari Meets With IMF Chief Lagarde, Discusses Economic Challenges Facing Nation

On Tuesday President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mrs. Christine Lagarde at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

On Tuesday President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mrs. Christine Lagarde at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

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Following the meeting, President Buhari issued a press statement regarding the topics covered during his discussion with Mrs. Lagarde.

Among the topics covered were the enforcement of regulations to plug financial leakages in various ministries and departments and the generation of internal revenue in order to offset the low global oil prices.

“We have just come out of budget discussions after many weeks of taking into consideration the many needs of the country, and the downturn of the economy with falling oil prices and the negative economic forecasts.

We have also told all heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the government that on our watch, they will fully account for all the funds they receive,” President Buhari informed the IMF boss.

For her part, Mrs. Lagarde stated that the IMF would be more than happy to assist the Nigerian government in their efforts to plug revenue leaks, trace stolen funds, and to restructure the nation’s taxation system.

The IMF chief concluded that Nigeria possessed the economic potential to overcome the challenges of falling commodity prices without requiring financial assistance from the IMF.

Mrs. Lagarde arrived in Nigeria on Monday for a four-day visit to the country. The trip is part of a two-country tour of the West African region, Cameroon is the second nation the IMF Director will visit during this tour.

In a statement, the IMF Director noted that her visit to Nigeria was intended to strengthen ties with the Africa’s largest economy and stressed that the financial institution had no intention of issuing loans to the West African nation.