TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria says the current economic crisis in the nation is the result of the failure of those who held public office in the past.

According to Isaac Okorafor (pictured), acting director of public communications at the CBN, the bank is not by any means allocating foreign exchange to a select few.

“First I want to state that the Central Bank of Nigeria has set up an inter-bank foreign exchange market where anyone who wishes to buy foreign exchange can bid for and buy through their banks,” he said.

“It is not true that CBN allocates dollars. There is nowhere in the world that the Central bank sits by and allows vicious speculators to solely distort the value of its currency endlessly.

“All central banks intervene to buy or sell in the market to ensure that the local currency is protected from dubious attacks.”

He said “the channels for advice and contribution of ideas on the current economic situation by all patriotic Nigerians are open,” further stating that those making statements to disparage the CBN are being insensitive.

“It is rather unfortunate that some people have chosen to play to the gallery and to make statements to disparage those in leadership at this time in total insensitivity to the larger interests of the Nigerian economy.

“We should not forget that the seed of our current economic crisis was planted by the failure of those who occupied public office in the past to act in the long-term interest of the Nigerian economy. It is easy to criticize from outside.

“It is always easier and the grass greener when people are out of office. The challenge we face today is a choice between pandering to the established interest in Nigeria’s speculative economy and the protection of the wages of the real stakeholders who work hard on fixed incomes, for they are the core victims of Naira depreciation.

“At this critical time in the life of our country the CBN will continue to explore avenues with the Federal Government in order to find solutions to the current economic situation.

“Already Nigerians are waking up to the call to be more productive and to look inwards and to be less dependent on the importation of foreign goods and services.”

The CBN statement comes a day after Muhammad Sanusi II, emir of  Kano and former CBN governor, accused the apex bank of illegal lending to federal government.

“The problem of the current government is not having the right policies to fix the current economic woes,” Sanusi had said at a policy monitoring dialogue in Abuja hosted by Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development.

“The CBN-FGN relationship is no longer independent. In fact, one could argue their relationship has become unhealthy.

“CBN claims on the FGN now tops N4.7 trillion — equal to almost 50% of the FGN’s total domestic debt. This is a clear violation of the Central Bank Act of 2007 (Section 38.2) which caps advances to the FGN at 5% of last year’s revenues.”