Bankers brainstorm on economic recovery

The Central Bank of Nigeria in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria is working on the modalities that could possible revive the Nigeria’s economy.
The duo insisted that the Deposit Money Banks in the country are expected to play some pivotal roles in redirecting the economy to path of recovery, growth and development.
The President/Chairman, CIBN, Mr. Oluseye Awojobi, explained that the institute had highlighted possible strategies that could be adopted driving production of local substitutes for certain imported items in the country, as well as, ensuring an efficient payments system, in order to continue improving the Nigeria’s financial system at large, adding that the nation has experimented multitude of policies and programmes aimed at supporting this lower end of the economy but only achieved minimal results.
“The continued pressure on the value of the local currency is a reflection of the untamed high propensity to consume imported items in the face of supply rigidities in the foreign exchange market”, he said.
Awojobi observed that year 2016 presents a peculiar circumstance occasioned by the dislocations in the national economy as witnessed presently. “The economic recession Nigeria is going through at the moment is attributable to years of skewed economic structure as manifested in the monolithic nature of government revenue source and foreign exchange earnings”.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said there are many innovations that can boost the financial industry, but believed that one of the most gainfully disruptive is innovation in the payment systems space.
He explained that this was one of reasons why the apex Bank have paid close attention to making sure that Nigeria leap frogs many other countries in that space.
Emefiele said, “As we have all come to accept, an efficient payments system is pivotal to Nigeria’s financial system in particular, and to engendering sustained economic growth and development in general.
“It is on the basis of this fact that the CBN has been making strides in the payments system sphere, from effective strategic planning, in collaboration with various stakeholders, to positioning the system for the facilitation of commerce, financial inclusion and inclusive economic growth”, he said.