The re-appoinment of Mr Goodwin Emefiele as Governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to generate mixed reactions in the nation’s financial industry.
Some operators see the renewal of his appointment as an opportunity to strengthened previous policies to achieve steady growth in the economy while others prefer the appointment of a new CBN Governor that will bring fresh ideas for the economic development.
Managing Director APT Securities and Funds Limited, Malam Garba Kurfi said renewal of Emefiele appointment as CBN Governor was a surprise because reappointment of CBN governorship was done 20 years ago after late Ahmad Jamare during Ibrahim Badamasi Babagida.
He said CBN under Emefiele’s leadership achieved exchange rate stability in his first tenure which enabled the naira to appreciate from N500 per dollar to less than N360/$, adding that our rate is much better than South Africa and Egypt whose economy is still not out of the problem.
He also said that foreign reserve increased from $23 billion to over $40 billion and it was for the first time we have achieved 17 months down trend in inflation rate while the CBN intervention in Agriculture has helped to boost production in that sector.
Setting agenda for Emefiele in his second term, he said “We are expecting him to bring MPR into single digits that will encourage more companies to borrow from the Bank to increase productivity. There is also need to promote more activities in the Capital market by divesting his holdings in Nigeria Security Printing Mint, African Finance Corporation.”
The CBN needs to advise FGN to divest it holdings in GENCOs and DICOs power and Refineries among others. There is a need to have liquidity provider in the capital market as he intervened in other sectors of the economy.
An economist, Mr Ibeabuchi Ezeokoli said the reappointment of Emefiele is a step in the right direction for economic development of the country, adding that such government decision bring policy consistency in the financial system.
He said with the reappointment the positive interventions in the agriculture, real sector and foreign exchange stability will bring confidence in the economy.
He said that with the current development it is certain that all the interventions by the CBN in the critical sectors of the economy, especially Agricultural sector and SMEs will be sustained and improved upon.
But Financial analysts from Afrinvest research group, Afriinvest Securities Limited said that they were not surprise for the renewal of the appointment considering the unusual silence around possible candidates for the position unlike in the previous selection process.
The analysts said that they are worried that the reappointment is unlikely to mark a turning point in the monetary policy, the expanding development mandate of the apex bank and the regulation and supervision of financial institutions.
They, however, said that these are the areas where the country must make strong improvement to overturn bleak medium term macroeconomic projections.
Warning that without a change in direction, we should expect slow growth, high inflation and high unemployment to persist.
On whether Emefienomics will withstand changing global dynamics and commodity price shocks, they said due to the boom and bust in commodities market cycle, the CBN in resource dependent countries are making changes to improve the resilience of the financial sector, adding that responses to external vulnerabilities and to meet the goals of monetary policy. In this regard, strengthening regulatory oversight and adopting a flexible exchange rate policy, inflation targeting is common.
