But for Emefiele’s policies, Nigeria would have taken IMF loan, says CBN director
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said Nigeria would have been at the mercy of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if Godwin Emefiele, its governor, had not acted on time.
Speaking with TheCable in Washington during the 2016 World Bank/ IMF spring meeting, Moses Tule, the apex bank’s director of monetary policy committee (MPC), expressed delight that Nigeria is free of IMF conditionality.
“I tell you, if Governor Emefiele had not taken these steps, the policies that the Central Bbank under his leadership took, by now, nothing would have stopped Nigeria from coming to IMF for a facility. Nothing!” he said.
“And of course, IMF facility comes with all the conditionalities, and if you don’t apply them to the fullest, you’re not going to get the facility.
“But, here we are still having sizeable reserves, just because of that decision. Look, we’ve got to take our destiny in our hands.”
The CBN has banned the allocation of forex to 41 imported items and entered into a dollar swap agreement with international banks operating in Nigeria to boost FX reserves.
Tule urged Nigerians to understand the realities of the economy, assuring them that the CBN is not out to kill any business, but to build a solid economy.
“It is because the Central Bank and the government said, we do not want to go to the IMF. We don’t want to go and ask anybody for resources. Let us manage what we have.
“It is only when we cannot achieve our goals that we can seek assistance. That is why we are still having what we are having.
“So, the important thing is, Nigerians need to understand that nobody is out there to kill their business, and that we must cooperate with government because only then can you build a solid economy that you can call your own. That’s the key message.”
Tule explained the reality of the Nigerian economy, round tripping, and why CBN can no longer give foreign exchange for education outside the country.
It’s good that CBN took the decision esp.stopped foreign exchange to pay school fees. Anybody who can afford to buy from open market. I lives in UK and most of Universities has 10-20% as Nigerian students. UK and Western counties want Nigeria to go loan and with the money return to them for Nigeria students to pay fees. Now most of UK Universities revenues are drastically reduced.
We cannot allow these Western countries to colonalise anymore.
Well said. My problem is Nigerians don’t understand the importance of these policies. This I would always constructively criticize the information ministry for. As I expect that every policy should be explained to the average Nigerian in broken english. The more the people understand what’s happening on a global level and why we must do what we do, the better we’ll have a future generation that can look after their interests without having to travel abroad or fully understanding the “deception” that the english and their language brings.