CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele disagreed with the OPS members’ belief that the apex bank took a position without a proper appraisal of the domestic capacity for the production of some of the items on the list.
Emefiele said: “My personal as well as the bank’s institutional analyses of the situation compelled us to believe that we needed to aggressively begin the process of feeding ourselves by ourselves and producing much of what we need in this country.
“The huge amounts of money the country spends on importing things we can produce locally have become a significant drag on our FOREX Reserves. Most of you are aware of the often-quoted number of N1.3 trillion, which is what we spend on the average, importing rice, fish, sugar and wheat every year.”
Explaining his personal frustration over the development, the bank chief queried why the country should be importing rice when the substantial part of paddy rice – with competitive quality – produced locally are being wasted and ignored.
To him, the importers has the option of going into locally production of rice by taking the advantage of the vast expanse of arable land, instead of taking the easy route of importing rice.
The CBN further alleged non-remittance of FOREX earnings by importers, who he accused of retaining such in foreign bank accounts, thereby putting pressure on FOREX demands.
Emefiele argued that the exclusion of the 41 items was necessary to sustain the stability of the FOREX market, ensure the efficient utilisation of foreign exchange and the derivation of optimum benefit from imported goods and services.
He added that the implementation of the policy will help to conserve foreign reserves as well as facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries and improve employment generation.
Besides, the apex bank chief said the items have not banned, stressing that any importers wishing to continuously import any of the items on the list could continue to do so but using their own funds without any recourse to the FOREEX market.
CBN’s Director of Monetary Policy Department Moses Tule said the nation’s FOREX reserves cannot be depleted without replacement and still remain what it used to be, hence the drastic measures to curtail unhealthy demand.
Dismissing suggestions that the CBN ought to have dialogued with stakeholders before embarking on policy changes, Tule said no central bank in the world can do that as it will stoke incontrollable pressure and speculations.
Speaking on the exigency of the policy, he said that it was not just in response to the pressure on the naira, but as an opportunity to change the economy’s structure, resuscitate local manufacturing and expand job creation opportunities.
According to him, the items captured on the list were arrived at after thorough and exhaustive discussions at the highest policy making body of the bank, with the strategic national interest and backed by verifiable data.
