The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has outlined the monetary policy thrust for 2019.
He said the short-term outlook of the economy remains good, adding that current tight stance of the bank will continue in the near-term.
Emefiele stated these while delivering the keynote address entitled: “Strengthening the Economic Recovery Process in Nigeria” at the 53rd Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) held in Lagos late last year.
He also said that the bank, working with the Federal Government, was open to foreign investors who were keen to support efforts at unlocking the immense opportunities in Nigeria’s economy.
“Your Central Bank today is more committed to creating wealth and putting in place strong policies for creating jobs for our growing youth population; your Central Bank today is ever more committed to promoting a more stable and resilient financial system,” he said.
While advising against hasty criticism of monetary policies, which he said were taken based on macroeconomic and geopolitical contexts, he assured that the CBN would always act in good faith, with the best available information and in cognizance of current economic conditions, to pursue price and financial system stability, support job creation on a massive scale and ensure a more inclusive growth in the economy.
On the restriction of access to foreign exchange from the Nigerian market for 41 items that can be produced in Nigeria, he reeled out statistics to show that the policy had helped to boost local production of the items. He said that the combination of the restriction on 41 items along with other measures imposed by the fiscal and monetary authorities helped to promote the recovery that got Nigeria out of recession.
He warned that any attempt to reverse the policy could negatively affect economic growth in the country, particularly as it relates to the push to diversify the Nigerian economy. He also disclosed that the CBN’s Economic Intelligence and Banking Supervision Departments would work closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to expose and sanction any bank, company or Foreign Exchange operator that colludes with individuals or companies to undermine the policy on 41 items.
Speaking on the success of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, he said the development finance intervention scheme had ensured that Nigeria emerged from being a net importer of rice to becoming a major producer of rice, supplying key markets in neighboring countries. According to him, as at October 2018, a total number of 862,069 farmers cultivating about 835,239 hectares, across 16 different commodities, had so far benefited from the programme, which had generated 2,502,675 jobs across the country.
He said the Nigerian economy had performed creditably compared to the performance of other emerging markets such as Brazil, South Africa, Turkey, and Argentina, adding that the country’s dominance over the review period was due to the stability of the Investors & Exporters (I&E) Foreign Exchange window rate and the yields being high by emerging-market standards.
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