THUR, MAY 09 2019-theG&BJournal-The speculation around the continuation of Godwin Emefiele as the governor Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is over.
The letter for the renewal of his tenure for another 5 years in office has been signed by President Muhammed Buhari according persons close to the presidency. The letter which they say was signed yesterday has been sent to the Senate President in line with the CBN Act. His first term in office ends this June.
Many sceptics had expected his ouster given that he was appointed initially by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in 2014. Buhari retained him on assumption of office in 2015 and backed his monetary policies which many say has helped stabilise the financial system.
Emefiele is regarded as the most challenged CBN governor in recent years having assumed office when global imbalances destabilized government revenue projections. The foreign exchange market was equally struggling with dollar scarcity and foreign investors were high tailing. The economy too was tittering and job losses were the order of the day across all sectors.
‘’In the conundrum, CBN evolved effective policies to reduce import bills, stabilize the foreign exchange market and exchange rate and attract foreign capital inflows and kick-start production,’’ Arize Nwobu, a Chartered Stockerbroker said when he x-rayed Emefiele’s policies in his recent column in the theG&BJournal.
Arize said; ‘’Between the options of reflating the economy with an expansionary monetary policy and controlling inflation which if left unchecked could further destabilize the economy, the Bank, against critical opinions opted to maintain a tight monetary policy as a result of which inflation rate dropped continuously and standing presently at 11.30 per cent.’’
Sources said Emefiele’s agriculture focus greatly endeared him to the president. Reportedly, 7 million jobs were created through the development finance interventions with a greater percentage through the Agriculture Guarantee Scheme.
According to Arize, ‘’the exclusion of the 41 items from the Interbank foreign exchange market is also noted to have encouraged local production ad it is expected that the repackaging of microfinance banks will boost the operations of small and medium scale enterprises for more job creation and poverty reduction.’’
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