Nigerians in the diaspora will have an opportunity to contribute to Nigeria’s economic transformation through an innovative dollar bond.
The plan represents the latest tool used by the federal government to build up hard currency reserves and support the nation’s currency, the naira.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mr. Wale Edun disclosed this on Saturday at his wrap up media briefing at the end of the 2024 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
His words, “In terms of remittances, it is certainly one of the ways we can increase supply of foreign exchange and investment in the country.
“There are Nigerians abroad who are doing very well. Even Nigerians in Nigeria with funds abroad that can be counted as remittance and in order to increase the supply of foreign exchange into the economy, government is looking at attracting those funds through a Diaspora kind of instrument.
“A Diaspora Bond and we think that will be attractive enough for Nigerians abroad and for foreign holdings of of foreign currencies and look to having a substantial issue later in the year.”
The World Bank estimated that Diaspora remittance into Nigeria exceeded $20bn by the end of 2023.
Economic experts say most of the funds remitted are usually for consumption rather than for investments, as those abroad send small amounts to their families back home.
