The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Friday said no amount of pressure from those it tagged unpatriotic persons would force the abandonment of its core mandate of ensuring monetary and price stability for the good of the larger percentage of Nigerians.
In a statement on its website on Friday morning, the CBN lamented the activities of selfish people who are “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 CBN statement titled: “Nigeria’s Current Economic Situation: Our Case,” signed by Isaac Okoroafor, its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, regretted that despite its positive efforts, these persons and groups are playing to the gallery by focusing on negative sides, turning blind eyes to the plethora of positive steps being taken to reposition the economy.
It however assured nonetheless that “in line with our mandate and working with the fiscal authorities, we will continue to ensure monetary and price stability as well as maintain external reserves to safeguard the international value of the Naira,” the statement added, even as it welcomed genuine partnership with all stakeholders.
The CBN assured that it would “only take economic decisions that will impact positively on the lives of all Nigerians,” calling for more patriotic contributions to the soundness of the Nigerian economy, rather than seeking to undermine ongoing efforts at moving the country out of the current economic situation.
It said although the present economic challenges facing the country have been worsened by past practice of frittering away huge oil revenue, current “decisions on FOREX management are 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.
“It is pertinent to note that pressures on the country’s foreign reserves have persisted due to a huge fall in the monthly foreign earnings, which fell from over US$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 considerably.
“In spite of the challenges and the basic economic fact that countries earn dollars from international trade, we have ensured we meet the genuine demand of importers to pay for eligible imports and other transactions within available resources,” the statement noted.
The apex bank said it has continued to ensure liquidity and transparency in the FOREX market, just as that “inflation remains within manageable limits; intervene in critical sectors of the economy, through injection of much-needed capital to promote growth and employment; promote export-driven industrialisation; (and) provide access to credit to farmers and small scale entrepreneurs at single digit rates, to create wealth.”
Continuing, it said it continues to “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.”
While also admitting the rights of every Nigerian or stakeholder to their respective view, the CBN expressed surprise that certain interests have persistently sought 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.”
Such self-centered individuals, it stressed, having “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.”