BREAKING NEWS, Business
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| By Anayo Ezugwu |
THE Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has dismissed the call by Muhammad Sanusi II, traditional ruler of Kano State, for further devaluation of naira. The CBN’s action came on the heels of a similar statement by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo that the naira will not be devalued.
Adebayo Adelabu, deputy governor, Corporate Services Directorate, CBN, on Monday, October 26, at the Investiture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, said: “We have made the official position known to the public. There could be comments from various quarters of the economy but we have made our official position known.”
Speaking on the theme of the CIBN Investiture, “Diversifying the Revenue base of Nigeria economy, Adelabu said although Nigeria missed the opportunity to diversify the economy when the crude oil prices where above $100 per barrel, doing so has become a must in view of the decline in crude oil prices and revenue.
He said, “The dwindling oil prices, reduction in volume of crude oil production are affecting us, with revenue nose diving, because we relied so much on crude oil. We lost the opportunity to diversify between 2009 and 2014 because we had relative stability in exchange rate, and oil prices went up as high as $110.
“We should have diversified in the period of boom. Now we don’t need anybody to teach us that we have to look at other areas of revenue. This is a challenge to everybody especially to the banking industry. Banks need to look at other sectors in terms of lending. Fortunately we are blessed with almost every resource on the earth. Agriculture is a sector we must focus on. We have lots and lots of solid mineral” resources; and we should focus on developing them. Most importantly, we have to patronise local products. Every Nigerian should de-emphasise consumption of imported goods, because by doing so, we are helping other countries. We should all patronise locally made goods.”
— Nov 9, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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