Chairman Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Abuja branch, Prof Uche Uwaleke, has commended the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele’s five year policy thrust saying it’s a good development that will impact the economy positively.
Reacting to the CBN’s helmsman road map for the next five years on Tuesday, Uwaleke, who is also a Professor of the capital market, added that proposed recapitalization of banks will strengthen financial system stability and put Nigeria’s banks in a stronger position to finance big projects needed for development as well as play in the global scene.
At a press briefing on Monday, the Apex Bank governor, said recapitalisation of Nigerian banks was long overdue as it was last done in 2004 by Prof. Charles Soludo, the then governor of the apex bank.
He said: “The planned introduction of a Trade monitoring system that reduces the length of time it takes to process export documents from 1 week to 1 day will surely boost exports. Also commendable is the plan to scale up the anchor borrower programme and target for massive funding support 10 commodities that consume a lot of foreign exchange to import.
“This will help conserve forex, grow external reserves, reduce food prices and possibly create job opportunities.
“The plan to build a robust payment infrastructure including through promoting payment service banks, shared agent networks, mobile money will go a long way in helping to achieve the target of 95 percent financial inclusion by the year 2024.
“Similarly, the boost in the collateral registry where over N400 billion worth of assets have been registered as well as the NISRAL microfinance bank will no doubt improve access to finance by micro and small businesses.
However, he said, “The major risk I see in the pursuit of price and monetary stability which is the core function of the CBN is the volatility in crude oil price given our dependence on the sector. The CBN is therefore advised to have a plan B in its five year plan.
“It is also vital to get the cooperation of the fiscal authorities especially when it comes to the task of achieving double digit growth because on this very score, the CBN cannot clap with one hand,” he added.
