Naira depreciation has reduced japa rate ? Tinubu’s aide lists advantages of Naira’s depreciation

The special adviser to the president on economic affairs (Office of the Vice President), Tope Fasua, has said that the depreciation of the naira has reduced the number of Nigerians migrating from the country. 

He said this on Thursday, Jan. 16, during a panel discussion at the 2025 Annual Outlook Conference. 

Speaking during the panel discussion, Fasua addressed some of the effects of the naira devaluation and the 2025 budget. 

He said, “There are a couple of advantages because the naira volume has moved up from about N30tn, N31tn to N49tn; what we’re trying to see is how to milk the PPP advantage. That’s the purchasing power parity. Whereas in dollar terms, it’s not particularly a significant budget and also per capita. But what we can do is focus on the Nigerian economy and the domestic economy and see what naira can buy. So, when we talk about PPP, essentially, you’re saying that $10 in New York, for example, probably can’t even buy your lunch. However, $10 translates to about N16,000 in Nigeria. So, we intend to see how we can focus on the local economy. 

“The devaluation, or rather, the depreciation of the naira that we’ve seen since our government came, is double-edged, actually, in terms of its impact. On one hand, it has impacted inflation, but on the flip side, it has reduced the ‘Japa’ rate, because if before you would have been able to get to the UK with maybe N2m or N1.5m for your ticket, now you have to look for maybe N4m or N5m, an economy seat, meaning that people are thinking less of ‘Oh, how do I get out of this country?’”