The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele expects the nations gross dollar reserves to hit the $50 billion mark later this year, the highest level since at least 2009.
Emefiele who was represented by Edward Lametek Adamu, deputy governor, corporate services, disclosed this on Monday at the ongoing seminar for finance correspondents and business editors in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Nigeria’s external reserves currently stand at $47.3 billion as of April 5, 2018 up 105 percent from a low of $23 billion in October 2016.
Foreign exchange supply has improved since the CBNs establishment of the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window, with autonomous inflows of over US$20 billion through this window alone from April 2017 to date.
Exchange rate has appreciated significantly from over N525/US$1 in February 2017 to about N360/US$1 today, tapering premium across various windows and segments of the market.
The inflation rate has declined from a peak of 18.7 percent in January 2017 to 14.3 percent currently.
“As the sentiments improve in the macro economy and supported by proactive monetary, trade, industrial and fiscal policies, we expect a continued uptick in GDP growth with a positive spill over to improved
unemployment rate,” Emefiele said.
Emefiele noted that GDP recovered after five quarters of continuous contraction recording positive growths of 0.7 and 1.4 percent in quarters two and three of 2017, respectively, and signalling an exit from the recession.
“We expect a re-doubling of strong policy coordination and cooperation which flourished during the very difficult times. To sustain our recovery, the need is greater now than ever for a robust collaboration between the key members of economic policymaking space,” Emefiele added.
This he said would include fiscal, monetary, exchange, and trade policies, which must be targeted at protecting farmers to boost agricultural outputs, supporting local companies and enhancing manufacturing and industrial capacities, with a view to diversifying the economy away from oil and fossil fuels.
In his address, Okafor Nwokoro, branch controller, CBN, Uyo said the naira which had exchanged for as high as N540 per dollar a year ago has since stabilised at N360 per dollar in a record time proving wrong the notion that in Nigeria, when prices go up they don’t come down.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is also in the process of finalizing the creation of a N500 billion fund in partnership with the Nigeria Export- Import Bank (NEXIM) to assist local manufacturers interested in non-oil exports, Emefiele revealed.
This is part of the regulator’s efforts towards providing access to much-needed credit to sectors with the potential to create jobs on a mass scale.
Nigeria has recorded persistent increase in unemployment rate to 16.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017, from 8.2 percent at the same period of 2015, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), data.
HOPE MOSES – ASHIKE
