CBN seeks organised labour's support for economy growth

Nigerian Health and Education sectors will continue to witness incessant strikes unless the economy of the nation improves

The Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) is seeking the support of the organised labour and civil society to grow the economy through leveraging its interventions.

Nigeria’s banking sector regulator said its interventions are very well thought-out, and not something that comes out of the curve.

“We sit down to think thorough these interventions before we get it out to the public and the whole essence is to grow the real economy in a sustainable manner,” Osita Nwanisobi, acting director, corporate communications department said.

He said this at a one-day interactive enlightenment session with organsied labour and civil society on the CBN’s 5-year policy thrust, in Lagos.

According to him, the CBN alone cannot bear with all of the issues in the Nigerian economy and that it is important that every Nigerian key into the reality that the economy needs to grow.

“It is not just about the CBN or the Nigerian government, it is about the Nigerian people and we are believing that labour being an important and significant stakeholder group would be able to take this message to their people.
“We are calling on labour and everyone to support the interventions by the CBN as these policies of the CBN is to grow the economy in a sustainable manner so we can see how to get inflation to single digits,” Nwanisobi said.

He noted that the CBN in it’s policy thrust, is working hard to maintain a single digit inflation rate, accelerate job creation, stabilise the naira, grow the external reserve and increase access to finance to more Nigerians, especially farmers to enhance their productivity.

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Nwanisobi, who said the whole idea was to trigger sustainable growth of the economy, also listed other targets of CBN policy thrust to include, granting more financial support for the development of the real sector of the economy.

He was worried that the good plan of the apex bank was challenged by the advent it the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the global economy including that of Nigeria; but even at that, the CBN authority had tried to keep the nation’s financial system safe , with zero point one -one percent marginal growth on the positive territory.

Responding, Issa Aremu, foremost labour leader, commended the CBN for considering it necessary to sensitise the organised labour on the policies and programmes of the central bank.

Aremu, who is also the director-general of the Michael Imoudu Institute for Labour Studies, also challenged the CBN to engage more with Nigerian workers and other stakeholders for a better understanding of its efforts in managing the Nigerian economy.

On issues around the latest circular issued to Microfinance banks on Friday, Nwanisobi said the practices by some MFBs pose significant risks to the banking system.

“We issued a circular yesterday that MFBs should be aligned to their responsibilities and restrict to the dictate the operation of the licenses they were given. We observed that they have gone outside the remit of what is allowed for them to do.

“For instance, wholesale banking, engaging in foreign exchange transactions and we know that these things carry significant risks given the capitalisation of the MFBs. So, it has a risk to our financial system stability. So, we have said that they should seize and stop them from doing those nonpermeable activities and we wish and hope that they would comply because non-compliance would attract sanctions,” he said

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.