The Senate on Tuesday commended the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which it said are geared towards increasing production, creating jobs in the country, safeguarding the nation’s commonwealth and expanding economic opportunities and growth in Nigeria.
This comes as the Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun will appear before the Senate today to brief senators on the state of the economy.
Members of the upper legislative chamber held a closed door session with the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele and top management staff of the apex bank to discuss progress on the apex bank’s policies so far.
In a statement issued by the Senate Leader Ali Ndume after the session, the Senate said the CBN governor presented a comprehensive account of the performance of the Nigerian economy in the last one year.
“The Senate also acknowledged the pains that many people may be facing at this time, especially in the light of increases in prices of electricity and fuel.
“But having carefully considered the policies of the CBN, the Senate would like to commend and support these policies because they are mostly geared towards increasing local production, creating jobs here in Nigeria, safeguarding our commonwealth and expanding economic opportunities and growth in Nigeria,” Ali noted in the statement.
According to him, Emefiele’s presentation also gave insight into the apex bank’s decision in the foreign exchange market and the rationale underlying the recent re-introduction of a Flexible Exchange Rate Mechanism in Nigeria.
He said Emefiele attributed the over 70 percent decline in oil prices from about $116 per barrel in June 2014 to about $30 per barrel in early 2016 to current global economic conditions.
The governor, the senator added, also discussed the bank’s detailed examinations of financial institutions, as well as its zero-tolerance for insider dealings by Board and Management of deposit money banks.
Ndume pointed out that the governor declared that the “strategic health of Nigeria’s financial system is still strong.
“It is critical that we put hands together to seek long term solutions to our underlying problem of non-diversification of foreign exchange earning and revenues, rather than pointing fingers or apportioning blame. The Senate believes strongly in the resilience of the Nigerian economy and the ingenuity of the Nigerian people and as such, we are confident that we will pull through these difficulties and come out as a much better, equitable and prosperous nation”.
Addressing journalists after the session, the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs Ben Murray-Bruce, said the best way to grow the nation’s economy is to patronise locally-produced goods.
“For us to get out of this mess we find ourselves in, we need to start buying Nigerian products and we need to stop importing products. We are in a mess already and everybody is part of it. But to solve this problem, we need to buy Nigerian products”, he stated.
The lawmaker said the Finance Minister is expected to present a clearer picture of the state of the economy to senators today, as well as implementation of the 2016 budget.
Owede Agbajileke
