Gov Otti laments free fall of Naira, says FG printed too much money

Damilola Ajibola

The Governor of Abia State , Alex Otti, has lamented the free fall of the Naira, attributing it to printing is too much money by the Federal Government.

He said that there is much money in circulation while speaking  during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.

The governor disclosed that the Naira in circulation will be nearing N30 trillion, saying the country lacks financial discipline.

Otti said, “I believe that the major problem we have is financial discipline. We are dealing with an economy where we printed so much money, at the last count, we will be nearing N30 trillion.

“So what happens with ways and means is that the quantum of goods that you have available in an economy does not increase with the quantity of money that you print.”

During the interview, the governor, who is a member of the Labour Party (LP), said the nation must move from consumption to production for the economy to recover.

He condemned the situation whereby Africa’s largest economy imports virtually every product, saying it piles much pressure on the foreign market.

“The issue of production versus consumption, if the economy must recover, we must move to production.

“That does not necessarily mean we will reduce consumption; what it means is that we will be consuming what we produce, to the extent that we are importing virtually everything. You keep piling pressure on the foreign exchange market,” he said.