The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday announced policies and programmes to create 10 million jobs in the next five years. The initiative falls within President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty through job creation and economic diversification.
In the project, which will last for 10 years, Buhari had said
that Nigeria can
accomplish the feat because China, India and Indonesia had
done same.
Buhari had in his speech to mark the maiden edition of June 12
as the
National Democracy Day in Abuja, said that “this task is by no means
unattainable. China has done it. India has done it. Indonesia has done it
.
Nigeria can do it. These are all countries characterised by huge burdens of
population.”
The CBN, however, limited its job creation scheme to five years
since its
governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would only be in office for the
period, having
served out his first term.
He said that the five million jobs would be through the apex
bank’s increased
intervention in the agriculture and credit access to the real
sector of the
economy.
Emefiele said that in line with President Buhari’s directive,
his team would
boost productivity through the provision of improved seedlings
and access to
finance for rural farmers in the agricultural sector, across 10
commodities:
Rice, maize, cassava, cocoa, tomato, cotton, oil-palm, poultry,
fish, and
livestock/dairy.
“Our choice of these 10 crops is driven by the amount spent on
the
importation of these items into the country, and the over 10 million jobs
that
could be created over the next five years if efforts are made to expand
the
cultivation and processing of these items in Nigeria,” Emefiele said.
The CBN governor spoke at the unveiling of the apex bank’s
economic
blueprint in his new term. He stated that the “banks will therefore be
required
to maintain higher level of capital, as well as liquid assets in order
to reduce
the impact of an economic crisis on the financial system.”
Buhari had said that a database of poor and vulnerable
Nigerians, as well as
that of unemployed youths, was being developed to address
the problem of
socio-economic inequality in the coluntry
The President said that for Nigeria to progress, a collective
resolution to
address corruption and foster broad-based prosperity is required
to create a
country that is not only for a few privileged but for all
Nigerians.
“In the face of these challenges, our government elected by the
people in
2015 and re-elected in March has been mapping out policies, measures,
and
laws to maintain our unity and at the same time lift the bulk of our people
out
of poverty and onto the road to prosperity,” he said.
Emefiele also hinted of the CBN’s plans to recapitalise the country’s
commercial banks, the second in 15 years.
Although no date has been fixed for the exercise, the apex bank
said that it
would be carried out in the next five years of the Emefiele’s
administration.
Emefiele began his second term in office on June 2, 2019,
following his
reappointment by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The CBN governor said that Nigeria needs a resilient and stable
financial
system for the continued growth of its economy given the
inter-mediation role
financial institutions play in supporting individuals and
businesses.
When the proposed recapilisation is done, more banks may go into
merger
and acquisition, the reason being that banks, especially the tier-2
(commercial banks), are adjudged weak due to their low capital base.
But Emefiele said that the planned recapitalisation was aimed at
placing
some Nigerian banks among the top 500 in the world. This may imply that
the policy is not informed by any weakness or distress in the sector.
The last exercise was carried out in 2004 by Emefiele’s
predecessor, Dr.
Chukwuma Soludo, who raised the capital base from N2billion to
N25 billion.
When the banks recapitalised that year, the naira exchanged rate
was about
$1/N100. At present a dollar exchanges for N305 at the official rate.
Emefiele, who failed to mention how much the new capital base
would be,
simply said that “it’s a policy thrust that will be discussed at the
Bankers’
Committee meeting.”
He said: “In the next five years, we intend to pursue a
programme of
recapitalising the banking industry so as to position Nigerian
banks among
the
top 500 in the world.”
According to Emefiele, the CBN would develop a robust mechanism
that
would ensure that necessary safeguards are put in place by banks and
financial institutions to protect against loss of data, fraud and cyber
incursions
in their respective systems.
The CBN governor explained that the planned intervention
programmes would
strengthen the linkage between farmers and
agro-processors/manufacturers
by ensuring that the output of farmers is purchased
by agro-
processors/manufacturers.
He also hinted that his administration would focus more on
reducing food
prices and employment creation, while driving an economic agenda
that
would put the country’s economic growth rate at double digit.
Emefiele further pledged a target of double digit growth in the
next five years
by working assiduously to bring down inflation to single digit
while
accelerating the rate of employment. He said that the target would
be met
through a strong partnership with the fiscal authorities.
He said: “Our priorities at the CBN over the next five years
are… first,
preserve domestic macroeconomic and financial stability; foster the
development of a robust payment system infrastructure that will increase
access
to finance for all Nigerians thereby raising the financial inclusion rate
in
the country.
Emefiele added that the CBN would continue to work with the
commercial
banks to improve access to credit for not only small holder farmers
and
MSMEs but also consumer credit and mortgage facilities for bank customers.
He declared that “our intervention-support shall also be
extended to our youth
population who possess entrepreneurship skills in the
creative industry,”
adding that he’s confident that when implemented, “these
measures will help
to insulate our economy from potential shocks in the global
economy.”
Emefiele said that during his second term, the CBN would
leverage monetary
policy tools to bring down the cost of food items while
seeking to maintain
stability in exchange rate, stressing that its monetary
policy measures would
be geared towards containing inflationary pressures and
supporting improved
productivity in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
The aim is to anchor the public’s inflation expectation at
single digits in the
medium to long run.
He stated that the CBN must continue to play an active role in
supporting the
growth of “our economy, and redirect its emphasis on sectors
that have the
ability to support improved wealth and job creation for Nigerians
such as the
agricultural and manufacturing sectors.”
Emefiele noted that beyond Nigeria’s domestic challenge of high
unemployment and subdued growth, the economy is faced with three
external
events: rising trade tensions between the United States and China, United
States and Mexico and subdued growth in the Eurozone as well as other
emerging
economies including China, India, South Africa, which, he said,
have the
ability to affect Nigeria’s growth trajectory over the near-to-medium
term.
No comments:
Post a Comment