Nigeria’s Senate has summoned the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to brief lawmakers on the monetary and fiscal policies adopted to salvage the economy from impending recession.
At plenary on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, Senator Bassey Akpan, drew the attention of the lawmakers to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics which stated that the Nigerian economy had plunged into a recession.
Reeling out further information about the nation’s economic situation, he said that unemployment rate rose to 12.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 from 10.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2015.
“This Senate is deeply worried that the continued complacency of the current economy, if allowed unchecked, would set the tune for a full blown economic recession by the end of June,” he stressed.
Senator Akpan said that the declining Gross Domestic Product and high inflation rate clearly showed that the country’s economic policies required an urgent review to avoid a further plunge in the economy.
He also pointed out that his position was confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in its Monetary Policy Committee meeting of Tuesday.
Akpan then told the Senate that it was their responsibility to invite the Minister of Finance and the CBN Governor to brief the Senate.
He pointed out that the briefing would enable them agree on the modalities that would be deployed to salvage the economy of the oil-rich nation.
After the lawmaker’s statement, the Senate decided to invite the duo to brief them.
The Central Bank had on Tuesday stated that it would introduce a flexible foreign exchange rate policy that will allow the bank retain a small portion of foreign exchange for critical transactions.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said that the details of the new policy would be released in coming days.