By Valentine Amanze
Online Editor
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised alarm over critics of its monitory policies, whom it stated, do not mean well for the country.
The bank’s Ag. Director, Corporate Communications,
Isaac Okorafor, raised the alarm in a statement titled, “Nigeria’s current economic situation: Our case.”
He said that while the apex bank respects the rights of every Nigerian or stakeholder to their respective views, it finds it curious that certain interests have remained persistent in their move to
misinform the larger public, with the intention of discrediting genuine efforts at managing the economy, thereby creating public distrust and panic within the financial
system.
His words: “Self-centered individuals, who have failed to assail our patriotic position, have resorted to the sponsorship of serial propaganda to misinform and mislead the public on the objectives of our policies.
“Intelligence reports at the disposal of the bank reveal the involvement of some unpatriotic elements funding the push to have the CBN and the Federal Government
reverse its FOREX policy, which is aimed at conserving foreign exchange, stimulating
agriculture and manufacturing and also promoting exports.”
The imagemaker however explained that the present economic challenges were worsened by the nation’s past
practice of frittering away huge earnings made from oil sales over the years.
He pointed out that the CBN’s decisions on FOREX management were prompted by the challenge posed by the level of depletion of the country’s reserves, arising from issues such as a drastic reduction in oil earnings, speculative attacks and round tripping.
According to him, pressures on the country’s foreign reserves have persisted due to a huge fall in the monthly foreign earnings, which he said, fell from over $3.2 billion
sometime in 2013 to below $500 million per month sometime in 2016, when the demand for the US dollar, particularly by importers, continued to rise.
Despite challenges, Okoroafor said that the apex bank has ensured that it meets the genuine demand of importers to pay for eligible imports and other transactions within available resources.
He stressed that the bank has continued to ensure that there is liquidity and transparency
in the FOREX market.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to:
- Ensure that inflation remains within manageable limits;
- Intervene in critical sectors of the economy, through injection of much-needed
capital to promote growth and employment;
iii. Promote export-driven industrialisation;
- Provide access to credit to farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs at single digit
rates, to create wealth;
- Protect the interest of bank customers in Nigeria; and above all,
- Ensure that the masses of our country’s low income earners are protected from the vagaries of high naira depreciation.
Despite our positive efforts, some persons and groups have chosen to play to the gallery by focusing on negativity that does the country no good,” he said.
He assured that the bank would
continue to ensure monetary and price stability as well as maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the Naira.
Okoroafor urged all concerned to be more patriotic and contribute to the soundness
of the Nigerian economy; rather than engage in acts capable of undermining the efforts being made at moving the country out of the current economic situation.
