Our Interventions, Intentions Quite Thoughtful — CBN
BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured that its 37 intervention packages in various sectors of the economy are well thought out responses to socio-economic situations and exigencies in the country.
With interventions in healthcare, agriculture, creative industry, and infrastructure, among others, the CBN said these were in line with its Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele’s pledge of managing a people-centred apex bank when he assumed office more than seven years ago.
Director of Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, stated this at an Editors Master Class with the theme: “Central Bank of Nigeria Interventions as Fulcrum for Economic Diversification”, organised by the Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos.
He stated that the interventions were part of CBN’s conscious efforts at ensuring all Nigerians, no matter their status, benefit from the economy, these packages are not just floating events but carefully planned responses to the exigencies of the times, as well as practical efforts at diversifying the economy.
According to Nwanisobi, the interventions were responses to market failures and other stress issues in the economy as no responsible central bank would stand by and watch the country’s economy plummet without doing anything.
In tracing the evolution of CBN’s interventions from 1979, the director said the global financial crisis of 2008/2009 threw up multiple interventions that also reflected the responses in other countries, noting that it was the apex bank’s interventions that saved the economy and made it to enjoy steady growth post-global crisis era.
He further said; “Interventions are necessary. Without interventions where would the Nigerian economy be by now? Who would have thought that a time would come in Nigeria and the rest of the world that economies would experience total shutdown as we experienced in the case of COVID-19?”
Nwanisobi maintained that it is important to appreciate the work done by CBN over the years in driving Nigeria’s economic growth, saying; “Just imagine what would have happened if CBN did not respond with well-planned interventions in the containment of COVID-19 and the attendant financial crisis.”
Also, in his presentation at the event, Mr Olabimtan Adebowale of the CBN’s Development Finance Department, who highlighted the benefits of the various interventions, said they were well-planned and targeted at meeting specific needs of growing the economy and improving the people’s living standards.
Further describing the packages as ‘development finance interventions’, Adebowale said they were focused on promoting lending to “high-impact and employment-elastic sectors of the economy, diversify the economic base, create jobs and improve macroeconomic stability.”
For him, CBN’s good intentions also aimed at encouraging exports and conserving foreign exchange reserves; expanding output of agriculture, manufacturing, and services sectors; providing access to affordable credit; and boosting the capacity of MSMEs as active players in the economy.
He identified “The 100 for 100 PPP – Policy on Production and Productivity” as one of the intervention programmes meant to boost local production and create employment, adding that under this new financial instrument policy, CBN will advertise, screen, scrutinise and financially support 100 targeted private sector companies in 100 days.
The programme, which flagged off on November 1, 2021, would roll over every 100 days with a new set of 100 companies expected to come on board.
Also featured during the event were a presentation and practical session on the onboarding of the eNaira that was launched on October 25, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari to complement the physical naira and help deepen the digital economy space.
One of the facilitators in the Master class, Mr Yusuf Abduljelil, described Nigeria as the first African nation to introduce a central bank digital currency, assuring Nigerians that the eNaira platform had enough layers of encryption and integrity to protect it from hackers.
With participants able to onboard seamlessly to the eNaira platform, the project easily received positive reviews with the CBN urged to put adequate measures in place so that Nigerians enjoy its full benefits going forward.
