The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Emefiele

  • Okon raps Emefiele

    Godwin Emefiele is a chap cut very much to snooper’s taste. Yours sincerely like Central bank governors who do not induce panic and who get on with the job with the staid soberness of a traditional banker and glum bureaucrat, shorn of intellectual pomposities and attention-seeking controversies. But Okon is not impressed. After the bottom was knocked out of his latest money-making scam, Okon was inconsolable in his anger against the system.

    Last Friday, the loony fellow walked in looking desolate and devastated.

    “Ha oga Okon, what is the matter?” snooper asked with a scornful grimace.

    “Oga wetin remain? As dem Magu people don reach business, make man dey find him way back to Itigidi or Biakpan sef jeje, no wahala, but God dey sha and if him no dey na…..”

    “ What is the matter, Okon? “ snooper jumped up as he cut short the crazy boy from uttering a heinous blaspheme.

    “Oga, abi you know hear sef? Dem don blow whistle on dem whistleblowers. Dem mala boys don spoil business. Dem come throw dem inside Kaduna Kirikiri. Wetin concern mala with 419? Dem no sabi nothing,” Okon lamented.

    “Okon, look for another scam. Whistle blowing is a stupid job.” Snooper snapped.

    “Ha oga, I been dey come to dat one. Dis Emefiele man, na ogbologbo igbo 419 be dat one. Him dey announce everyday say  foreign exchange dey come down but price of yam no dey come down for market. Abi which kind yeye nonsense be dis one?” the mad boy screamed.

    “Ha, for the price of yam to come down, you must roll down your sleeves and go and farm. If I were in power, I would have driven all the useless scoundrels on the streets back to the farm”, snooper raved.

    “Ha oga, in dat case me I no be farmer. I be ordinary houseboy. Na Yoruba people be farmer and dem no dey produce nothing. Na palmwine dem dey drink for farm. And dem wan fight mala. Hunger go wire una senseless when dem mala cut off dem yam supply”, the mad boy sniggered as he recovered his malicious gusto.

    “Okon, go and find something productive to do”,snooper shouted as he slammed the door against Okon.

  • $43m Ikoyi cash: Reps summon Emefiele, Magu, Monguno, Oke

    THE House of Representatives may be on a collision course with some key agencies of the Federal Government over its plan to probe the $43 million cash belonging to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Ikoyi, Lagos.

    For three times, top officials of the government invited to appear before the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence refused to show up.

    At yesterday’s hearing, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele informed the lawmakers through a letter that the CBN would not be able to appear before the committee because the National Security Agency Act identifies information coming from the agency under scrutiny as classified.

    However, he said the provisions quoted by the lawmakers in their letter dated May 10, 2017 has merit.

    Emefiele added that the National Security Agency Act also refers to Section 9 of the Official Secrets Act, hence the CBN will not be able to appear to give insight into the issue.

    He added that the issue is delicate and that it had been investigated by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s panel.

    But chairman of the committee, Aminu Sani Jaji, said all public officials are bound to appear before lawmakers because Sections 88 and 89 of the constitution as amended empower them to investigate anyone, ministry, department or agency.

    The lawmakers consequently rejected the CBN governor’s letter and ordered Emefiele, the suspended Director General of the NIA Mr. Ayo Oke, National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno and Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu  to appear on May 23 at 2pm.

  • Buhari happy with forex market stability – Emefiele

    Buhari happy with forex market stability – Emefiele

    The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the stability in the foreign exchange market and other activities of the apex bank.

    Emefiele, who spoke to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said Buhari was delighted over the stability in the forex market.

    The CBN governor said the naira is currently stabilising at between N380 and N385 to a dollar.

    He said, “Basically as it is expected what we normally do is from time to time to brief the President about activities about the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “Particularly at this time as it relates to the efforts that the central bank is doing to stabilise the forex market.

    “We briefed him regarding the activities so far and he was very delighted to hear that the market is stabilising at the level that it is right now.

    “I am saying the parallel market which currently stabilises at between N380 and N385.”

    Emefiele said the increase in crude oil production and export were the major factors responsible for the stability in the forex market.

    NAN

     

  • Emefiele hands over 2011 intervention project to MOUAU

    Emefiele hands over 2011 intervention project to MOUAU

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has handed over the bank’s 2011 intervention project, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development building, to Michael Okpara University of Agriculture at Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State.

    The project was designed for the Southeast zone.

    Emefiele urged Abia residents and other people in the Southeast to use the centre well to enable them develop their skills.

    The CBN governor, who was represented by a Deputy Director, Mr. Oluwole Owoeye, described the project as part of the bank’s corporate and social responsibility (CSR) to the zone’s residents.

    He said the Entrepreneur Development Centre (EDC) was designed to develop skills – small and medium scale enterprise (SMEs).

    Emefiele said: “In Nigeria, we realised that for now, there is a dearth of skills and people don’t have relevant skills.

    “So, the essence of this thing is for people to develop skills in various areas so that they can be independent as well as help to develop the skills of others after they must have sharpened their own skills.”

    The CBN chief added: “This one is the project the bank has developed for the Southeast. I want to appeal is Abians and other parts of Southeast to leverage and take advantage of this centre to develop their skills.

    “We know that Aba is well known for a lot of SMEs. So, I want to use this medium to appeal to the people in Aba, its environs and other parts of Abia State to patronise this centre so that we will build up their skills…”

  • Three banks in trouble as CBN releases stress test result

    Three banks in trouble as CBN releases stress test result

    The Capital Adequacy Ratios (CARs) of three big banks have fallen below regulatory capital requirement, the result of stress test conducted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the status of the banking system has shown.

    Overall, the result of the solvency stress test indicated the potential for high contagion risk   through   unsecured   interbank   exposure   as   three banks including two Systemically Important Banks (SIBs) failed CAR after a 100 per cent default shock.

    The test, contained in the Financial Stability Report, released on Wednesday by the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, classified lenders into three groups – large banks, those with assets greater than or equal to N1 trillion; medium banks with assets greater than or equal to N500 billion but less than N1 trillion and small banks with assets of less than N500 billion.

    The CAR is a ratio of bank’s assets to its risks and is 10 per cent for national banks and 15 per cent for banks with international subsidiaries and 16 per cent for SIBs.

    It said the baseline CAR for the banking industry, large, medium, and small banks stood at 14.78, 15.47, 12.75 and 3.14 per cent respectively.

    The  banking  industry stress  test was  carried  out  at  end of December  last year and covered  23 commercial  and merchant  banks.

    It also evaluated  the  resilience  of  the  banks  to credit,  liquidity, interest  rate and  contagion  risks.

     

  • CBN to unite rates, says Emefiele

    CBN to unite rates, says Emefiele

    Critics of official intervention in the forex market got a reply yesterday.
    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said its intervention is to bring about a convergence of all the rates.
    Many have doubted the CBN’s ability to sustain its intervention, but the CBN insisted that it has the muscle to sustain its battle to stop the Naira from falling out of control.
    Addressing reporters at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele warned doubting Thomases that “they are taking a risk and they will lose in this bid to want to place the wrong bet on the direction we are going”. “The direction is that there is determination to see the convergence of those rates and with what we have seen so far we are very optimistic that those rates will converge and all the elements in the foreign exchange market will no doubt be implemented.”
    Emefiele noted that “in terms of sustainability, reserves at this time are still trending upwards, almost close to $31 billion as I speak with you, and the fact that we have done this consistently for four to five weeks should convince everybody who doubts the strength of CBN to sustain this policy.”
    He went on: “It is a programme that is on course. We are happy that it is looking good beyond our expectations and those who still remain on the sidelines, doubting the CBN’s ability to sustain this policy, they are on the wrong side of the bet.”
    Speaking on why the apex bank initiated the intervention, Emefiele said the CBN made a presentation on the Nigerian economy and FX to the National Economic Council (NEC) which thereafter advised that “we look into all the issues discussed.” “Before then, we had started to see the rising trend in the FX, particularly in the parallel market and we had taken a decision that there was a need to reverse the trend that is the reason we specifically started the FX intervention and I am happy it is indeed very gratifying that those interventions have proved positive, we’ve seen rates converging; we are strongly optimistic that the rates will converge.”
    On the movement of rate from N305 to N307, Emefiele said the movement “has nothing to do with any adjustment; the market is not one to be fixed; the market will move sometimes based on trends. It is not meant to be a fixed market; it is sort of a floating market that floats within a particular range. It is not an attempt to further weaken the Naira.”
    Emefiele said members of the MPC considered the headwinds in the domestic economy and the global environment. They decided by nine out of 10 members to retain the MPR at 14.0 per cent alongside all other policy parameters. One member voted to raise the MPR.
    The MPC decided to: retain the MPR at 14 per cent; retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 per cent; retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 per cent; and retain the Asymmetric corridor at +200 and -500 basis points around the MPR.
    Before arriving at the decision, the Committee, the CBN governor said, evaluated the challenges confronting the domestic economy and the opportunities for achieving price stability and conducive to growth in 2017.
    In particular, the Committee, he said, “noted the persisting inflationary pressures; continuing output contraction; high unemployment rate; elevated demand pressure in the foreign exchange market; low credit to the real sector and weakening financial system indicators, amongst others.”
    Members, he added welcomed the improved implementation of the foreign exchange policy that resulted in the naira’s appreciation. Similarly, “the Committee expressed satisfaction on the release of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, and urged its speedy implementation with clear timelines and deliverables and, on the strength of these developments, the Committee felt inclined to maintain a hold on all policy parameters.”
    According to Emefiele, “the Committee noted the arguments for tightening policy, which remained strong and persuasive. These include: the real policy rate, which remains negative, upper reference band for inflation remains substantially breached and elevated demand pressure in the foreign exchange market. The reality of sustained pressures on prices (consumer prices and the naira exchange rate) cannot be ignored, given the Bank’s primary mandate of price stability”.
    The MPC noted that the moderation in inflation in February was due to “base effect as other parameters, particularly month-on-month CPI, continued to rise. However, tightening at this time would portray the Bank as being insensitive to growth. Also, the deposit money banks may easily reprice their assets which would undermine financial stability. Besides, the Committee noted the need to create binding restrictions on growth in narrow money and structural liquidity and the imperative of macroeconomic stability to achieving price stability conducive to growth”.
    Emefiele said “the Committee also considered the arguments for loosening the stance of monetary policy, noting its desirability in stimulating aggregate demand if credit increased with lower rates of interest”.
    The CBN governor pointed out that members of the committee considered “the arguments that loose monetary policy was capable of delivering cheaper credit, making it more attractive for Nigerians to acquire assets, thus increasing wealth and stimulating aggregate spending and confidence by economic agents, which would eventually lead to lower non-performing loans in the system. However, the counterfactual arguments against loosening was anchored on the upward trending month-on-month inflation and its impact on the exchange rate. Loosening would thus worsen the already negative real interest rate, widen the interest rate spread and reverse the positive outlook for the current account position.”
    On outlook for financial stability, the Committee, Emefiele said, “noted that the banking sector was becoming less resilient as a result of the adverse macroeconomic environment. Nevertheless, the MPC reiterated its resolve to continue to pursue financial system stability. To this end, the Committee enjoined the Management of the Bank to work with DMBs to promptly address rising NPLs, declining asset quality, credit concentration and high foreign exchange exposures.”

  • Senate summons Emefiele over intervention fund

    Senate summons Emefiele over intervention fund

    The Senate yesterday summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria( CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele over Federal Government’s intervention funds designed to get the economy out of recession.

    The lawmakers wanted to know the progress so far made in the implementation of the programme.

    The upper chamber asked the apex bank to consider implementing expeditiously, the approvals and disbursements of intervention facilities to firms in the real sector that merited such facilities.

    The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North) titled: The need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Implement its Intervention Funding Programmes  to qualified Nigerian Companies and Exporters.

    Senator Ohuabunwa noted that the Federal Government, aware that the country was undergoing serious economic recession, with  factories shutting down  with the attendant loss of job creation, decided to set up the intervention fund programme to revitalise the industries.

    He added that to achieve the target, “government resolved to activate the Nigerian economy through the introduction of different types of long tenored intervention facility programmes, with the aim of stimulating output production, enhancing value addition and creating employment for Nigerians. These are initiatives that many Nigerian companies and commercial banks have keyed into with great expectations.”

    The  lawmaker noted that based on these projections and expectations, “the CBN, in accordance with section 31 of the CBN Act, 2007 has introduced several intervention funds, including N235 billion fund for manufacturing, refinancing and restructuring of facilities of bank loans, a N500 billion debenture stock–with N200billion set aside for refinancing/restructuring of SMEs/manufacturing portfolios. N300billion is applied to the power and airline projects; a non-oil  N500 billion low interest export stimulation facilities was also introduced to compliement the already existing N300 billion Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) established in December, 2014 to further assist the sustainable growth of a recessive economy.”

    He observed that in the midst of these massive intervention efforts, the CBN has encouraged the local affected companies, factories and exporters to access the facilities through Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) such as Bank of Industries (BoI), NEXIM Bank and other direct applications from commercial banks, yet very little progress has been made to strongly fund the requirements of many of such key institutions.

    He said Nigerians were expected to push the growth of the nation’s economy within the expectations ignited by the CBN interventions.

    The lawmaker lamented that the various companies, factories and exporters encouraged by the CBN to go through the rigorous process of accessing the intervention fund have mostly come out disappointed.

    The disappointment stemmed from  the capacity of the CBN to provide expeditious intervention that can rejuvenate their companies and pull the economy out of   economic recession.

  • Senate summons Emefiele over intervention fund

    Senate summons Emefiele over intervention fund

    The Senate on Tuesday invited the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it to brief the lawmakers on the progress so far made in the implementation of government’s intervention fund geared towards getting the country out of economic recession.

    The upper chamber has asked the CBN to consider implementing expeditiously, the approvals and disbursements of intervention facilities to companies in the real sector that merit such facilities.

    The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North), entitled, “The need for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement its Intervention Funding Programmes to qualified Nigerian companies and exporters.”

    Senator Ohuabunwa noted that the Federal Government was aware that Nigeria was undergoing a serious economic recession, with companies, factories, industries, exporters and entrepreneurs no longer growing or going moribund, with the attendant loss of jobs and decided to set up the intervention fund programme to revitalize the industries.

    He said, “To achieve the target, government resolved to activate the Nigerian economy through the introduction of different types of long tenured intervention facilities with the aim of stimulating output production, enhancing value addition and creating employment for Nigerians. These are initiatives that many Nigerian companies and commercial banks have keyed into with great expectations.”

     

  • Emefiele: monetary, fiscal authorities should align

    Emefiele: monetary, fiscal authorities should align

    A close-knit collaboration between the monetary and fiscal authorities will pull the economy on to the path of recovery, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, has said.

    Emefiele spoke at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retreat at the CBN Headquarters in Abuja. It was attended by Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun and Minister of Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma and Miniser of Trade and Investment Okechukwu Enelama.

    Emefiele, who also chairs the MPC, said the retreat, being attended by such a high profile representation for the first time, was designed to find a sustainable solution to the challenges facing the nation.

    It is also to provide perspectives on some MPC decisions and close the gap on the coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities to chart a common course for the economy.

    Udo Udoma said both the monetary and fiscal authorities must work together to guarantee economic growth, adding that the pathway to lower interest rate was to ensure that monetary and fiscal authorities collaborated with the private sector.

    Mrs Adeosun and Dr. Enelama, agreed that solving the challenges facing the economy required unconventional tactics.

    The finance minister spoke on the need to capture the huge number of ‘unbanked’ Nigerians into the fiancial mainstream. She added that based on the realities, the federal government needed to borrow more to meet its infrastructure development plans.

    Dr. Enelamah said the streamlining of monetary and fiscal policies would ensure more investor-confidence, policy integrity and an improvement on the ease of doing business in the country.

    In her presentation entitled: “The Macroeconomic Trilemma and Monetary Policy in Nigeria,” CBN Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Dr.  Sarah Alade, said the onus of achieving the trilemma of low interest and exchange rates and low inflation should not entirely be the function of the monetary authority, rathera collaboration with the fiscal authorities.

    “There is need for deliberate policies to ensure stability and engender growth in the economy,” she said.

  • Reps summon Emefiele over foreign exchange sale to oil marketers

    Reps summon Emefiele over foreign exchange sale to oil marketers

    The House of Representatives on Monday summoned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, over alleged sale of foreign exchange to International Oil Companies (IOCs).

    Emefiele’s invitation by the House’s Ad hoc Committee on the Review of Pump Price of Petrol followed the committee’s rejection of the records of the foreign exchange transactions presented to it.

    The committee, which continued its public hearing on the issue in Abuja, ordered that the CBN governor should appear with details of all beneficiaries of the foreign exchange deals.

    He is also expected to give insight into the banks used by the apex bank in the transaction with the oil marketers.

    While presenting the rejected record on behalf of Emefiele, the Director, Financial Market Department of CBN, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, told the committee why the bank acted as third party to oil companies and importers of petroleum products.

    He said the CBN took over the purchase of dollars from the IOCs and began to sell directly to petroleum marketers seeking foreign exchange to import products.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that it was not revealed in the records how much the apex bank sold the currencies to the companies even when it stated that Emefiele determined the rate the currencies were sold to oil marketers.

    The committee Chairman, Raphael Igbokwe, directed the CBN boss to come and explain the legal provisions that allowed IOCs to operate as financial institutions selling foreign exchange to Nigerians.