 has said it is not alone among global central banks in providing support to the Federal Government.){kind=link}
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it is not alone among global central banks in providing support to their respective Federal Governments and economies through ways and means financing.
The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said this at a press briefing on decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) today.
“It is irresponsible for the CBN as a lender of last resort not to support the Federal Government,” Emefiele said.
“Covid-19 is a health crises that caught everyone pants down.”
The CBN Governor said when crude oil fell in March/April 2020 to as low as $17 per barrel, it affected government revenues to the point that cost of producing oil became higher than FG revenues.
Explaining the global dimension of the crises, Emefiele said that in advanced societies there has been conventional and unconventional measures to support the economy.
According to him, the U.S spent $17 trillion or 35% of GDP, Euro area 15% of GDP or $2.3 trillion, India 15% of GDP or $400 billion, South Africa 10 percent of GDP or $26 billion, while Nigeria spent only 4.5 percent of GDP or $15 billion.
“What we have done is not different from what is being done in other climes to support faster economic recovery,” Emefiele said.
The CBN will going forward be focusing on diaspora remittances and exports to to boost dollar supply into the Nigerian economy, according to Emefiele.
“We will give more support to export financing. We want to have statistics on remittances and track it, which is why we have insisted that International Money Transfer Organizations (IMTOs), should pay recipients in dollars into their Nigerian domiciliary accounts.”