The stability of the economy and the sustenance of the value of the naira throughout 2018, has been attributed to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
A Coalition of Civil Society Group, COCSG, which mde this known weekend, hailed the CBN governorover on his adoption of some revolutionary policies that helped to stabilise the economy.
President and Secretary of the group, Etuk Bassey Williams and Abubakar Ibrahim, who gave the commendation, weekend, said the continued churning out of initiatives by the apex bank, no doubt, produced the desired results.
The coalition also noted the efforts of the CBN governor to boost the availability of forex to end users through the banks’ retail outlets as well as the reduction of the tenor of its forward sales from the hitherto maximum cycle of 180 days to not more than 60 days from the date of transaction.
The coalition in a statement said, “Measures aimed at strengthening the value of the Naira against the US dollar in the overall interest of the economy and Nigerians as a whole under Emefiele’s leadership has been remarkable as since February this year, the pumping of money into the forex market has significantly strengthened the naira against the dollars to close at N380/$1 at the parallel market last month.
“Also, aside direct sales to BDCs, fuel importers, airlines, manufacturers, agriculture sub-sectors have continued to benefit through the retail-Special Secondary Market Intervention Sales, SMIS, at a marginal rate of N310/$, has continued to help stabilise our economy and boost the nation’s GDP.”
The coalition also commended Emefiele for boosting the Federal Government’s local investment, following the CBN’s keeping of the Monetary Police Rate, MPR, at 14 per cent as well as leaving the Cash Reserve Requirement, CRR, unchanged at 22.5 per cent and Liquidity ratio at 30 per cent, adding that they massively influenced growth and development and hence should be lauded.
It praised the CBN over its steadfast relationship with other stakeholders through numerous special interventions and operations, emphasising that resultant effects have impacted positively on the economy.