The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cbn

  • FG Moves Against Rice Waiver Beneficiaries

    FG Moves Against Rice Waiver Beneficiaries

    The federal government has vowed to go after importers who enjoyed waivers to import rice but went ahead to exceed the quota granted them.
    Speaking in Abuja yesterday at a stakeholders’ meeting with officials of Paddy Rice Producing states and Rice Value chain investors the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr Godwin Emefiele they have resolved “to go after rice importers who defaulted in the payment of customs duty after bringing in excess quotas of the product into the country at concessionary rates.”
    The CBN he said would take the matter with President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the money is paid. According to Emefiele, “by exceeding their import quota, these rice importers have flooded the Nigerian market with rice that are sold below what is produced locally thus making consumers to ignore the locally produced ones.”
    Emefiele appealed to erring rice importers to “go and pay, you are taking a big risk and don’t wait for the big stick to be wielded on you. Just go and pay.” He assured the rice producers that the bank would work closely with the Nigerian Customs Service to address the issue of smuggling.
    Earlier Emefiele had disclosed that $2.41 billion was spent by Nigeria to import rice into the country between January 2012 and May this year. To this end, he foreclosed on any reversal of the ban on forex for importation of certain items stressing that “those who are nursing the thought that the bank’s decision on forex ban for importation of rice, fish and other items would be reversed should forget such as the bank has no plans to do so.”
    He lamented that the massive importation of rice “had resulted in huge unsold stock of paddy rice cultivated by our farmers and low operating capacities of many integrated rice mills in Nigeria.”
    To support local production of rice, Emefiele said the CBN in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have agreed to come up with a comprehensive financing model to support rice millers and other investors in the sector.
    The need to intervene in the sector with this funding and other packages Emefiele said “was borne from the fact that the country can never achieve its true potentials by importing everything it can produce locally.”
    To this end, the CBN he said would make funds available to rice farmers through some of its funding program such as the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and the  N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development fund.
    This fund he said “would be made available to the rice farmers through the Microfinance Banks at an interest rate of nine percent” but he urged farmers to report to the CBN any Microfinance bank that charges interests above the stipulated rate.
    The CBN governor appeal to state governments “to provide lands for the farmers on a large scale and we will work with them to clear some of these impediments. “We are at a stage where we must feed our selves and all hands must be on deck to ensure this works.”
    Kebbi State Governor Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, who spoke on behalf of the ten major paddy rice producing states of Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Taraba, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Niger, assured that they would do everything possible to support the CBN intervention.
    Atiku Bagudu said rice producing states in Nigeria “have enough capacity to produce rice that would help the country attain self sufficiency as well as for export purpose.”
    Earlier, the rice millers had called on the government to address some of the bottlenecks affecting rice production in Nigeria. The areas they identified include bigger fields for rice production, funding, access to land, establishment of more rice mills in the country, increase in capacity of existing mills, Investment in research, irrigation facility, stable rice policy that would be agreed to by all stakeholders and the need to tackle issue of smuggling.
    [news_box style=”3″ display=”tag” tag=”Rice, FG, CBN” count=”7″ show_more=”on”]
  • Fear grips bad bank debtors as CBN deadline approaches

    Fear grips bad bank debtors as CBN deadline approaches

    Many bank debtors are jittery as the August 1 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for them to pay back their loans, or have their names published in the newspapers draws near.

    The order, the CBN said, followed the rising trend of non-performing loans (NPL) in the industry.

    A debt recovery officer to one of the banks, who spoke anonymously, informed The Nation that there is high level lobbying going on between the debtors and the banks to ensure that their names are not published. The source said that with several banks threatening to make names of such debtors public, the debtors, who are mostly the superrich within the society, have been reaching out to the banks for a truce.

    Top commercial lenders, including Stanbic IBTC, Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank, First Bank and Skye Bank, have all given notices to bad debtors to pay up.

    A lawyer involved in receivership of bad loans, Chief A.A Aribisala (SAN), said that most of the debtors are untouchable. “Receivership is one of the ways we recover loans. I think the Central Bank of Nigeria and banks are resorting to this approach out of frustration. They want to protect the banks. You know the CBN Governor, came from the banks. He knows what the banks are going through in terms of bad loans. The debtors are simply untouchable. Nigerian bank borrowers are simply untouchable. There are so many of them you cannot touch,” he said.

    The lawyer said since most of the debtors are untouchable, the best way is to disgrace them. “Disgrace is enough because when the names are published- that is if they will actually have the liver to publish the real names. You will be surprised the names you will see.

    “Those we see as the rich in the society are the ones owing the banks and don’t want to pay back. They are the top newsmakers. They are the ones that owe the banks.

    Aribisala said those who want to publish names, know that it is something that those owing will not want to happen. “I only hope the real names will be published, but I doubt it. The debtors cannot clean up. Even if you give them three years, nothing will happen because they don’t have the money to pay,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), yesterday, asked loan defaulters to immediately regularise their accounts or it would publish their names in line with a directive by the apex bank.

  • CBN to recover bailout funds from states’ allocations

    CBN to recover bailout funds from states’ allocations

    As indigent states prepare to receive their bailout funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), indications have emerged that repayment of the soft loan would be deducted from the Federation Account Allocations to benefiting states in graduated manner over a long time period.

    The Nation gathered that deducting the bailout from states’ federation allocation is one of the options the CBN is considering among other options, but the deduction would be done in such a way that it will not cause much distress to the affected states.

    “The reason the CBN is seriously considering the direct deduction of the bailout from states allocation is because there is no other way the CBN can recover this bailout funds,” a source told The Nation.

    The source said the decision to bailout the states was strictly “a fiscal and political decision” that has nothing to do with the CBN, but that the regulator was brought in  to make the bailout possible.

    Last week at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele warned the affected states that the bailout was not a grant, but a loan. He then urged state governments to design ways of being less dependent on monthly allocations and retool their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) mechanism.

    The Presidency source admitted that the state governments might put up some resistance, because deducting the bailout from their federation account allocation will reduce their monthly take home from the federal purse. However, the argument being considered, the source noted, is that benefiting states must be made to pay back the bailout as the fund is not a gift.

    The Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ),Eze Onyekpere,  in a radio programmer monitored yesterday morning in Abuja, urged that the state governments should use their IGR to pay workers salaries and use their monthly allocations to execute capital projects thereby reducing, and at the same time spreading the financial burdens.

    The Nation  reported exclusively yesterday that 27 states have applied to draw from the N300billion approved by President Muhammadu Buhari through the  CBN.

    The facility is one of the three-pronged reliefs designed by the Federal Government to help financially troubled states. President Buhari had early this month approved a three-pronged relief package to end workers’ plight.

    First, the federal and state governments will share $2.1 billion (about N497 billion) sourced from the 2014 Income Tax/Education Tax and dividends paid to the Federation Account through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited; Second,  Buhari directed the Central Bank to prepare a special intervention fund that will offer financing to the states.

    The N300 billion, will serve as a soft loan available to states to access and defray the backlog of salaries, and the third package is the instruction to the Debt Management Office (DMO), to help states restructure their commercial loans currently put at over N660 billion, and extend the life span of such loans while reducing their debt-servicing commitments.

  • How to fight e-payment fraud, by CBN, Winigroup

    How to fight e-payment fraud, by CBN, Winigroup

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Winigroup, an information technology (IT) security provider, risk management solutions firms and experts in the banking and financial technology industry have urged stronger collaboration among regulatory authorities,  banks to secure the electronic payment system from cyber-criminals.

    Director, Banking and Payments System, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, who spoke at a fraud protection forum organised in Lagos by Winigroup and Easy Solutions to sensitise the banking industry about latest threats from hackers and e-fraudsters, said the apex bank is not resting on its oars at securing the e-payment system. He said the CBN is exploring ways to establish an industry Security Operations Centre and a Risk Information Centre, to consolidate its grip at reducing e-payments fraud to the barest minimum and enhance trust in payments system. He said the CBN is partnering relevant stakeholders to achieve this.

    Fatokun said WiniGroup has been a partner in the journey towards combating e-fraud and secure e-payments ecosystem.

    A former deputy governor at the apex bank, Mr. Tunde Lemo, urged banks to create a secured environment, brand and fraud intelligence, safe browsing and device analytics.

    “I recall that fraud incidence on magnetic stripe was as much as 90 per cent until we introduced chip and pin. We can only fight fraud if we work together.   Unless we have a forum for cross-fertilisation of ideas, we may not know what the other guys are doing,” Lemo said, adding that the CBN should quickly galvanise banks to get better technology solutions to deter e-frauds and take up consumer protection.

    Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Easy Solutions, Mr. Jeremy Boorer, said Nigerian banks are up in a battle with e-fraudsters who are daily devising new strategies to steal financial information and money from bank accounts. The firm is the only security vendor focused on the comprehensive detection and prevention of electronic fraud across all devices, channels and clouds.

    He called on the banks to urgently deploy mobile fraud prevention, transaction risk monitoring, fraud intelligence, cloud and email authentication, safe browsing and clientless malware detection on their electronic channels. He said banks need to take proactive mitigation for account takeover, internet scams and malicious activity against their brands.

    He said banks need to have proactive malware detection and threat analytics on their customer devices, real-time transaction anomaly detection and risk evaluation, transparently deploy multi-layered security in their mobile banking application as well as stop email spoofing with fastest path to full DMARC application.

    He also advised that they deploy transparent malware protection for all clients with zero friction, multi-factor authentication for web and cloud applications. He also warned that there are fake apps claiming to come from banks, saying once downloaded and financial information entered included credit/debit cards details and personal identity numbers, the bank customer money is gone as the fraudster will clone the cards or transfer monies immediately.

    Mr. Tim Akano, vice chairman, Winigroup, convener of the anti-fraud forum said fraudsters are using Bank Verification Number (BVN) policy and other means to dupe customers. He welcomed CBN’s collaboration with experts within and outside the banking industry as well as law enforcements agencies under the Nigeria electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) to take advantage of new ideas including the ones expressed at the forum.

    Akano further expressed his appreciation to the CBN for partnering with WiniGroup to ensure that the e-Payment anti-fraud event will be a regular annual event. He closed by thanking the well over 30 organisations represented primarily from the financial sector and promised that they should expect something bigger in the next edition

     

  • N300b CBN workers’ pay bailout for 27 states ready

    N300b CBN workers’ pay bailout for 27 states ready

    There is good news for cash-strapped states.

    The N300 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifeline, which will enable them pay their workers, will be ready in two weeks.

    Of the 36 states, 27 have applied to draw from the cash relief packaged by President Muhammadu Buhari through the apex bank.

    The CBN facility is one of the three-pronged reliefs designed by the Federal Government to help financially troubled states.

    The other two are:

    • sharing of the $2.1 billion (about N414 billion) 2014 Income Tax/Education Tax; and
    • dividends paid to the Federation Account through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

    Besides, the states’ loans are to be rescheduled.

    President Buhari, about three weeks ago, directed the CBN to package the loan to enable the states pay the backlog of salaries owed their workers.

    The CBN is to package a Special Intervention Fund ranging from N250 billion-N300 billion to the states with low interests.

    Investigation revealed that the apex bank, however settled for the higher figure in view of the magnitude and the depth of the financial commitment of the states .

    The decision on the N300 billion relief package was reached at the end of discussion at the last National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja last Thursday.

    At the meeting were CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and the governors.

    A CBN source told The Nation yesterday that barring any unforeseen circumstances, disbursement to the states will begin in two weeks.

    There was no information yet on the identities of the states seeking the relief package, even as it was learnt that in making their requests, each of the 27 states submitted details of its indebtedness to the banks, the amount owed to contractors, arrears of workers’ salaries as well as outstanding pensions.

    Presidency sources said Buhari’s recourse to the measures was intended to ease the pains workers have been undergoing.

    Many attribute the sudden dip in states’ finances to the crash in global oil prices that have cut Nigeria’s revenue by over 50 per cent, but some governors have blamed it all on the Federal Government, which they alleged owed them backlog of billions they claimed to have spent on maintaining federal facilities in their domains.

    They argue that had the Federal Government lived up to its responsibilities and relieved them of that burden, they would have had no course to seek for any palliative from it.

    As the states await the disbursement of the CBN package, opinions are divided over the rationale behind the President’s directive.

    Workers and many economic experts have hailed the President for his intervention, which they say is not discriminatory, adding that it will bring life to the economy. Others, including some members of the National Assembly, have approached the court to determine if Buhari has the powers to grant relief to states without recourse to authorisation from the legislature.

  • How to stop money launderers, by CBN

    How to stop money launderers, by CBN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to create strong internal controls to stop money launderers.

    Speaking at an anti-money laundering workshop organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), CBN Deputy Director Udofia Obot, said money laundering had limited the economic development of nations and institutions.

    He noted that money launderers used banks to perpetrate the act, adding that failure, or non-compliance with the Anti-money Laundering laws, would attract a penalty of not less than N5 million and N1 million for a bank and other financial institution.

    “A bank shall disclose in its published accounts details of penalties paid as a result of contravention of legal and, or regulatory provisions. Such contraventions shall be reflected in the auditor’s report,” he said.

    Obot described internal control as a set of procedures and processes created by banks’ board and management to ensure efficient and effective operation of the institution’s activities in order to meet its set objectives.

    “Regulation 33(1)-(3) of CBN Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regulations, 2013 requires financial institutions to establish and maintain internal procedures, policies and controls to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism and to communicate these to their employees. The procedures and processes must incorporate checks and balances (dual control) and should be instituted by the board of directors and implemented by management and all levels of personnel,” he said.

    According to him, such control roles must be operated continually and updated as the need arises.

    He said internal control allows banks to achieve their objectives, operational effectiveness and efficiency, reliable financial reporting, and compliance with laws, regulations and policies.

    Money laundering, he said, is process whereby dirty cash; other assets or property obtained, sourced or derived from illegal, unlawful or criminal activities is converted or transformed to wear seemingly clean appearance. It is a process used by criminals or money launderers to conceal the illegal origin of proceeds derived from criminal activities.

    Obot said money laundering takes place in three stages placement, which is where the illegitimate funds are deposited in a financial institution; layering, occurs where the proceeds of crimes are separated from their illegal sources through complex layers of transactions; and integration, which occurs when the illegal proceeds are fully mixed with other lawfully earned funds in order to disguise their criminal sources.

    Effective internal controls, he said, would also ensure that employees are not tempted to breach or be used to perpetrate criminal activities and also guarantee compliance with statutory provisions and regulatory requirements, while meeting international best practice on anti-money laundering.

    “The Boards must be made to have oversight function and top management must ensure that there is control culture even as risk must be recognised and assessed. Also, duties must be segregated and assigned to specific officers and there must be dual control of functions as well as information, communication and feed-back mechanism,” he said.

    Obot advised banks to adopt risk-based approach in identification and implementation of their money laundering and financing of terrorism risks; assess and classify the risks posed by the operations, customers, products and locations.

    Banks, he insisted, must design risk scoring mechanism for high risk categories and formulate policies for mitigating such risks as well as consider risk classification practice in approving business expansion in new branches, subsidiaries and products.

    He said customers must be prohibited from doing business with the organisation on the basis of high money laundering risks identified while changes in money laundering risk levels must be monitored.

    He called for an independent monitoring of compliance with laws, regulations, policies on AML, using specific AML audit plan/programme. Also, the independent audit must review and test your AML policies and procedures for effectiveness while the Board or its committee and management are mandated to receive reports of the auditors’ review of the AML system. He advised that adequate resources be allocated to the audit functions for effective operation. Also, suspension of any licence issued to the financial institution or Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions while a financial institution, its officers or employees shall not benefit from any violation of extant AML/CFT laws and regulations. He advised that criminal cases involving officers and the financial institution shall be referred to relevant law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

     

  • Governors seek further bailout

    Due to huge indebtedness in states, Governors will on Thursday press further for bailout fund from the Federal Government when the National Economic Council (NEC) meets at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Some of the states are still owing workers’ salaries despite benefitting from the share of $2.1 billion from Nigeria Liquidified Natural Gas (NLNG) about three weeks ago.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after meeting, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Zamfara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Abdulaziz Yari, said he came to find out the update on the agreement for a bailout fund to be facilitated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for governors during last NEC meeting.

    According to him, he wanted to know how far the Presidency has gone with the CBN in sourcing the bailout funds ahead of the NEC meeting for Thursday.

    He said: “Any way, we discussed about the issue of the special intervention funds. In our last meeting with the President, we agreed in the National Economic Council that there will be a special intervention from the Federal for the states that cannot be able to foot their salary arrears to their workers.

    “More especially, both the states and Federal government were affected by the unpaid salaries. Because this issue of unpaid salaries is not only for the states, even the federal government is suffering the same thing.

    “We followed up to know how far they have gone with the CBN Governor and now we have gotten the brief but the CBN governor is out in Washington and immediately he comes back, we are going to take up the matter to see the end of issue of unpaid salaries to the workers.

    On the issue of Boko Haram attacks, he said that the government was doing everything possible to counter the insurgents, prevent their bombs and dislodge their suicide bombings.

    “So the government and the security agencies are doing their best to ensure that peace is restored.

    “We are working and now it is responsibility of our government to ensure security of lives and property of the people. And the issue of Boko Haram is number one that Mr. President is discussing with the President of the United States and the supports he is going to give Nigeria to ensure that the issue of insurgency comes to an end.”

    He added: “And the government is going to put their machinery in place, most especially the military and security in place to ensure that the insurgency comes to an end.”

  • Forms ‘M’: CBN to approve requests in 48 hrs

    Forms ‘M’: CBN to approve requests in 48 hrs

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured importers of good ‘Not Valid for Forex’ that they will get their Forms ‘M’ approval within 48 hours of request submission.

    In a circular to authorised dealers and the general public titled: Procedures for Registration of Forms ‘M’ for goods ‘Not Valid For Foreign Exchange’, CBN Director, Trade and Exchange, Olakanmi Gbadamosi, explained this in a new directives on the registration of Forms ‘M’ for the 41 items it restricted from accessing forex from the apex bank and Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.

    The CBN director, however, stated that the new measure, “will not impede smooth flow of existing process, as the regulator will ensure that all approvals are granted with 48 hours of receipt.

    Gbadamosi also explained procedures for registering Forms ‘M’ for goods ‘Not Valid for Forex’. He said that with effect from July 3, 2015, Forms ‘M’ to be established on Nigeria Single Window for Trade Portal for items ‘Not Valid for forex’ should be accompanied with Proforma Invoice from the supplier; insurance certificate (marine/cargo) and written confirmation from the authorised dealer showing source of funds (and) evidence of source of funds.

    The apex bank director also directed authorised dealers to submit hard copies of such Forms ‘M’ to its Director, Trade & Exchange Department before validation for necessary approval.

    The CBN had earlier in the month, directed that certain categories of items, which had already been classified as ‘Not Valid for Forex’ cannot be funded at the interbank from proceeds of exports and Bureau de Change (BDC) sources. The CBN said authorised dealers are enjoined to ensure that these items are funded from sources outside all the segments of the foreign exchange markets.

    But President, Bureau De Change Association of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said the CBN is not supposed to be regulating Forms ‘M’ for imports of goods that it does not provide the forex. He said such practice makes importation cumbersome and should be discouraged.

    The 41 items affected by the CBN’s  policy include rice, cement , margarine, palm kernel/palm oil products, vegetable oils, meat and processed meat products, vegetables and processed vegetable products, poultry-chicken, eggs, turkey, private airplanes/jets, Indian Incense, Tinned fish in sauce(Geisha)/Sardines, cold rolled sheets, galvanised sheets, roofing sheets, wheelbarrows, head pans, metal boxes and containers, among others.

     

  • CBN mandates BDCs to provide customers’ BVN

    CBN mandates BDCs to provide customers’ BVN

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Bureau De Change operators (BDCs) to ensure that their customers obtain their Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

    The direcive which takes effect from August 1, 2015, is to ensure greater transparency in  transactions of licensed BDCs

    In a circular released yesterday, the said the provision of customers’ BVN “must be included in the Returns to the CBN.”

    The circular, signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Departmeny, CBN, Kevin Amugo, noted that “in the case of corporate customers, the BVN of a Director or an Authorized signatory of the entity must be provided.”

    The CBN also mandated “all licensed BDCs to provide the BVN of all their Directors before 15th August 2015, as failure to meet this requirement may affect their continued participation in the foreign exchange market.”

    Kevin Amugo further threatened a fine of One million Naira (N1,000,000) as penalty for first offenders while subsequent violation may lead to revocation of license.

    According to circular, “BDC operators should please note that any BDCs that fails to provide the required information in its returns, or provides a wrong BVN, would be penalized. First offenders will be required to pay a fine of One Million Naira (N1,000,000), while any subsequent violation of the requirement may lead to the revocation of the operating license of the BDCS.”

    According to the CBN, “the list of all licensed BDCs would be provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to the Nigerian Interbank System (NIBBS), to enable the country provide the necessary hardware token that would be used by the BDCs in accessing the NIBSS website”.

  • CBN naive about real sector, says LCCI

    CBN naive about real sector, says LCCI

    The last may not have been heard about the exclusion of 41 items from the foreign exchange (forex) markket by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has slammed CBN for what it called the bank‘s “limited understanding of the manufacturing process of many of the sectors affected by the policy”.

    While introducing the list, the CBN declared the items invalid for forex from the interbank market and Bureaux de Change (BDC). But the policy did not go down well with members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS).

    LCCI consequently organised a dialogue between CBN officials, business leaders and members of the Chamber to discuss the policy, its rationale and consequences, and to advise on the way forward.

    In a communiqué after the meeting signed by its Director-General, Mr. Muda Yusuf, LCCI said it understood CBN’s constraints  in fashioning the policy.

    “Many of the restricted items are irreplaceable raw materials in the manufacturing process of many industries and this policy will cause significant damage to the Nigerian manufacturing sector and economy.

    ‘’We affirm that while there are several items on the list which any patriotic Nigerian will not object to, there are many others that will harm the manufacturing sector,” Yusuf said.

    He said given CBN’s dominant role in forex supplies and the fact that all three ‘official’ markets are excluded, the policy means that manufacturers who require any of the restricted items as input and raw materials for their production may have to shut their operations once their stock is exhausted.

    He said the items include those which are critical to manufacturing. He advised CBN to simulate the impact of the policy on employment, inflation and output in the year and review it. He insisted that the impact  of the three areas would be negative.

    Yusuf argued that the new CBN policy was ambiguous, to both manufacturers and banks.

    “We urge CBN to immediately amend the policy with full product definition and specification of all restricted items, including HS Codes and excluding any items which are non-substitutable industrial raw materials from the list. The CBN policy should also allow appropriate time frames for items, which require some time interval before local substitutes can be created for imported raw materials,” he said.

    The LCCI chief reminded the CBN and the Federal Government that manufacturers had suffered from the recent currency devaluation. Compounding recent devaluation losses with higher cost and inability to source critical raw materials, he argued, might push many firms over the precipice, resulting in business closures, loss of jobs, declined manufacturing sector production and greater social tension.

    Continuing, he said: “We call CBN’s attention to the fact that the fundamental forces the CBN is struggling against are economic and fiscal policy dependent while the bank continues to exert monetary policy tools almost to a point in which economic harm may result. The fundamental factors are diversification of the Nigerian economy in terms of exports and government revenue, issues around downstream oil sector deregulation and upstream oil sector fiscal regimes.

    “Others are power sector efficiency and creating alternative economies in solid minerals, agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors towards building a productive, export-led local economy. These matters cannot be resolved through exclusive deployment of monetary policy tools.”

    Yusuf suggested a conversation between the CBN and Federal Government so that a more appropriate regime of economic and fiscal polic initiatives could be designed to address these issues.

    He called on the CBN to harmonise its policies with other agencies of government, including Customs, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and Immigration.

    “Moreover we urge CBN to be mindful of the economic role and importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and moderate-sized manufacturers as it develops policies. The CBN should avoid policies that may produce oligopolistic and even monopolistic outcomes at variance with its mandate of building a sound economy,” he advised.

    LCCI also urged increased engagement and consultation between the CBN and manufacturers and other stakeholders so that policies would be based on proper understanding of the real impact on stakeholder groups and the economy.