The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its plan for the next five years. The current governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele stated the five main focal points of his second term to drive the Monetary Policy roadmap throughout 2019-2024 at the CBN Headquarters in Abuja.
In his words, “our priorities at the CBN over the next 5 years are the following; preserve domestic macro-economic and financial stability; foster the development of a robust payments system infrastructure that will increase access to finance for all Nigerians, thereby raising the financial inclusion rate in the country”, he says.
Emefiele added that the bank also hopes to continue working with the Deposit Money Banks to improve access to credit for not only smallholder farmers and MSMEs, but also consumer credit and mortgage facilities for bank customers.
“Our intervention support shall also be extended to our youth population who possess entrepreneurship skills in the creative industry. This group deserves our encouragement. We shall also during this intervening period encourage our Deposit Money Banks to direct more focus in supporting the Education Sector”.
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In addition to these, there is also a need to grow the country’s external reserves and lastly, support efforts at diversifying the economy through the various intervention programs in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
The CBN Governor said he was confident that when implemented, the aforementioned measures will help to insulate the economy from potential shocks in the global economy.
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“In my second term in office, part of my pledge is to work to the best of my abilities in fulfilling these objectives,” he adds.
Emefiele was first appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 and was retained after Buhari assumed office in 2015.
On May 8, President Muhmmdu Buhari informed the Senate in a statement that he had decided to nominate the CBN governor for a second term.
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