FG to release extra 60,000 metric tonnes of food grains to stabilise prices

The Federal Government has finalised plans to release additional 60,000 metric tonnes of grains to make food available and stabilise the price of foodstuffs across the country.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, announced this at the Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI) yesterday in Abuja.

Edun said President Bola Tinubu remained committed to supporting the less privileged in the challenging times.

The minister stressed that the President had “previously released strategic grain reserves and is currently releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of food grains, with plans for an additional 60,000 tonnes”.

The measures, he explained, were aimed at ensuring food availability and price stability, with the expectation that prices would eventually reduce.

Edun assured Nigerians that the government plan was meant to ensure that food reaches the market and people’s tables by any legal means necessary.

He said: “President Tinubu has always said he will not leave the poor, the vulnerable, the weaker in society at times like this. He has previously released strategic grain reserves; he’s currently releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of food grains, and he has a plan of releasing another 60,000 tonnes of food grains.

“This is in addition to measures to make sure that whatever is in the stores come out at this important time. We expect food prices to stabilise and begin to fall in a reasonable period of time. In the meantime, everything that can be done to put food in the market, on the tables of people, will be done, no matter what it takes.”

The minister hinted of the implementation of an Executive Order that would enable the Ministry of Finance, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), to offer government-backed securities.

This initiative, he said, would restore confidence in the naira and provide Nigerians, within and outside the country, the option to save in dollars.

By offering dollar-denominated securities, individuals can preserve their savings in the global currency while demonstrating their commitment to Nigeria, Edun said.

The Chairman of the MoFI Board, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, said the outfit would take a more active role in managing its assets henceforth.

He urged asset operators to view MoFI as partners, not competitors or regulators.

Usman also assured of MoFI’s commitment to high standards of corporate governance, including a policy to prevent conflicts of interest among workers.

MoFI’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Armstrong Takang, outlined the outfit’s renewed mandate, focusing on expectations from the public and private sectors.

He announced the launch of a N100 billion Project Preparation Fund to improve the professionalism in managing public assets.