The Senate on Tuesday gave a scanty narrative of its discussions with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, at a closed door session.
This was a clear departure from the open fora created by previous sessions of the Senate for past CBN Governors to answer critical questions on the economy and monetary issues.
According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the CBN Governor presented a detailed, comprehensive and lucid account of the performance of the economy in the last one year.
Abdullahi said, “His (Emefiele) presentation began with the current global economic conditions, which have been characterised by external shocks, including the sharp decline in commodity prices, the geographical tensions along important global trading routes and tightening of monetary policy in the United States.
“He drew linkages of these occurrences with the Nigerian economy, especially with respect to the over 70 percent decline in oil prices from about $116 per barrel in June 2014 to about $30 per barrel currently.
“The Governor’s presentation also gave us an insight into the bank’s analysis and understanding of the situation, and therefore, the rationale underlying the countervailing policy actions it has taken over the last couple of months.”
The narrative further stated that going by Emefiele’s analysis, the country was not doing badly in many macroeconomic indices when compared to its peers.
Senator Abdullahi also said the senators raised questions bordering on the health of the banking system, stoppage of sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change operators and rise in inflation.
They were also said to have discussed the fall in foreign exchange reserves, exclusion of some items from access to foreign exchange, and policy coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities.
He continued:”Following an exhaustive response by the Governor and his team, the Senate acknowledged that these are indeed difficult times all over the world and not just in Nigeria.
“The Senate also acknowledged the pains that many people may be facing at this time, especially in light of shortages of foreign exchange for legitimate business.
“But having carefully considered the policies of the CBN, the Senate would like to commend and support these policies because they are mostly geared towards increasing local production, creating jobs, safeguarding our commonwealth and expanding economic opportunities and growth in Nigeria.”
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