Nigerians across the country would be stunned by what the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele said about the recession.
During a chat with media executives during the weekend, Emefiele said that the worst of the recession is over. According to him, Nigeria has turned the bend on the situation can only get better. His reasons for saying this are listed below
- $1 billion injected into the economy by foreign investors
- The Emergency Spending Bill that will allow government to speedily spend money
- N374 billion to be injected into the economy this week
- 1 million subsidized loans for traders
- N420 billion already spent on capital projects
Expanding on the role of the CBN in these achievements, Emefiele said that the $1 billion foreign investment was as a result of the flexible exchange rate introduced which opened he market and encouraged the return of foreign investments. He said the currency depreciation is a small price to pay for such investment.
“The Market that provides the opportunity to reduce the volatility in the foreign exchange market so that people do not bunch up their supply on the spot, so they can now go and do their business without disturbing themselves about the exchange rate. Those were the actions that we’ve taken and today I must say that it’s been successful.” The Nation quotes Emefiele as saying.
He also said that the CBN was in discussion with the Office of the Vice-President that handles social spending to finalize arrangements for MSME traders to enjoy subsidized loans.
The question we are probably asking is ‘Dare we believe the CBN Governor or is this just another attempt to sugarcoat the problem?’
Parts of this article originally appeared in The Nation Newspapers.