CSO hails CBN anchor borrowers impacts on agric

Th e Coalition of Civil Society Groups (CCSG) has commended the positive impacts of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) anchor borrowers programme on the country’s economy through the agricultural sector.

Th e coalition said the programme’s guideline has now made provision for cotton, roots and tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato’s and livestock is a welcome developmentTh is is even has it has it is set to host President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor of Central Bank, Dr. Godwin Emefi ele and others as guest of honour at it forthcoming 3rd All Civil Society National Economic summit with the theme: Sustainable policy strategy in the face of economic recession coming up by September 14th

. Th e group in the communique jointly signed by the chairman and secretary of the communique drafting committee Mr Emeka Anuna and Mr Musa Tank respectively after it end of the National economic appraisal meeting held in Enugu, last Wednesday said the CBN leveraging on agriculture toward the diversifi cation of the economy was thoughtful and commendable. It stated further that it’s assessment shows that factory costs dropped in the quarter after the CBN introduced a window for investors to trade foreign currency at market determined prices in April, making dollars more readily available to pay for imported inputs. “It was observed that the new guideline in the anchor-borrowers programme that now makes provision for Cotton, Roots and Tubers (Cassava, Potatoes, Yam, Ginger etc.), Sugarcane, Tree crops (Oil palm, Cocoa, Rubber etc.), Legumes (Soybean, Sesame seed, Cowpea etc.),Tomato and Livestock (Fish, Poultry, Ruminants, is a welcome development. “Th e group observed that the news that Nigeria’s economy expanded in the second quarter as factory and farming output improved, as it will help the economy recover from the fi rst annual contraction in 25 years according to Statistician-General Yemi Kale. Also we observed that much have not been seen as the expected impact of the fi scal policy initiative 2017 formulated by the ministry of fi nance,” it stated. Meanwhile the group applauded the monetary policy directing the banks to start quoting prices on the Nafex currency window, stating that the policy have almost wiped out a premium of about 20 percent on the black market. “Th e coalition applauds the initiative of the ministry of budget and national planning to build and strengthen bilateral relations with other countries so as to deepen trade and investment relations.” Passing a vote of confi dence on the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Godwin Emefi ele and his team for their outstanding performance, it however, as part of it recommendations called on the CBN for more support for the Small and medium enterprises saying bottlenecks witnessed in accessing loan should be removed. “It was also observed that the Central Bank has to improve on the relationship and engagement with civil societies for eff ective interventions towards promoting the policies of the Central Bank. “Th e coalition call for improve synergy between the ministries of Finance, National Planning and the Central Bank.” “It was also recommended that the Civil Society Cooperative organizations partners with the Central Bank to develop their capacities in Agricultural practices

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