CBN FOREX Policy Working, No Plans to Change It, Says Lai Mohammed
The federal government has said the foreign exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is working and will not be changed soon.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who said this Thursday commended the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, for the policy and for reducing inflation in the country.
The statement is coming following the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the multiple exchange rate policy of the CBN should be scrapped.
But Mohammed in an interview with Reuters said the CBN policy which was introduced in 2015 has had impact as part of the efforts to check earlier forex crisis.
Mohammed told Reuters, “Right now, the currency is converging naturally at about N360 to the dollar. Three years ago, the same was about N525 to a dollar. I don’t think the central bank is in a hurry to change this.
“Inflation is down and the reserves are up. We are in a better position to defend the naira.”
The Minister also praised the CBN governor for providing loans to support the agricultural sector as well as improving access to credit.
According to him, “Close to 70 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to financial services, hence the CBN introduced a series of steps to have a financially inclusive society, which includes the agent banking guidance and shared network facility, both of which are meant to deal deepen penetration of agent method in underserved locations across Nigeria.
“The recent launch on the Payment Service Bank in October 2018, was an additional step in leveraging on the agent networks of non-entities such as fast moving consumer goods, mobile network operators, etc. to underserved communities.
“We are happy because I remember about 18 months ago, Bill Gates mentioned that the level of financial inclusion in Nigeria was 48 per cent and they were concerned that Nigeria was not making progress. We went to work to ensure we meet 2020 target of 80 per cent. As a result of the actions we have taken, our level of financial inclusion as at last week has improved from 48 per cent to 64 per cent in the space of 18 months.
“I feel more confident that by 2020, we should certainly hit 80 per cent mark we had set for ourselves. In doing this, it is important to look at how we faired as a country during the period of this crisis relative to some other emerging markets.”
About Post Author
