Nigeria's economy on firm recovery path: minister

Nigeria's Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun has said the country's economy is on a firm recovery path and does not need loan facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The minister made this known in a statement sent to newsrooms on Saturday, adding that what the country was passing through was surmountable because the government was already applying a cocktail of measures to address the problem.

Nigeria was adapting to its new realities by implementing fiscal policies to steer the country back on track for stable growth with a diversified economy, Adeosun said.

She expressed optimism that sound fiscal policies and investments would boost Nigeria's economy by 2017.

"Nigeria is not sick. The real vulnerability in the Nigerian economy is over-dependence on a single source of revenue -- oil," she said.

"We have resolved to build resilience into the country's economy to hedge against future oil shocks. This is because dependence on oil brings about vulnerability and laziness," added the minister.

"So, we are doing a combination of things to diversify our economy, with revenue mobilization to enable sufficient investment in developing the non-oil sectors."

Adeosun said with a truly diversified economy, the government would have enabled opportunities for wealth creation that would have flow down to every Nigerian.

According to her, the compelling business case in Nigeria is that the fundamentals remain very strong, a teaming, young growing population, rich in resources and with a government determined to finally get it right. Endit