The President/Chairman of Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Prof. Segun Ajibola, says the Central Bank of Nigeria must work to protect the new flexible exchange rate regime against sharp practices.
According to him, the central bank must ensure that the policy does not promote black marketeering, while stressing that most businesses depend on a friendly exchange rate regime to stay afloat and operate profitably.
He spoke at a breakfast session organised by the Centre for Financial Studies, a subsidiary of the CIBN, in Lagos.
The forum was tagged, ‘Business dynamics under a flexible exchange rate’.
Ajibola said, “The challenges inherent in the structure of our economy begin with the near impossibility of the market system to operate without interference. Market system ensures efficient distributive system when the forces of demand and supply are allowed to operate unfettered.
The CIBN president, who advised companies to redefine their focus in line with current economic realities, noted that forex challenges had led to a hike in production cost.
A senior lecturer at the Lagos Business School, Mr. Okechukwu Kelekumi, who is also the Chairman of the forum, gave historical perspective of the economy since 2014.
He said the current challenges facing the economy started in the wake of the global fall in oil price in 2014.
According to him, series of ad-hoc policies” introduced by the CBN to save the naira from speculative attacks have not been able to resolve the crisis.
Source:© Copyright Punch Online
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