The Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN nominees, have assured Nigerians that the foreign exchange and food crisis facing the country would soon be over.
President Bola Tinubu had last week forwarded to the Senate for confirmation, the names of nominees into the MPC.
The appointees spoke during their screening on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, APC Lagos East, ahead of the MPC meeting slated for Monday next week.
Six out of the nominees, who appeared for the screening, answered questions on required urgent solutions to forex volatility and food crisis in the country.
First to face the committee was the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Lamido Yuguda, who informed the committee that his nomination into MPC, would give SEC the needed voice in monetary policy.
He lamented that the value of the Naira as it is today, is not real, having lost its intrinsic value but that the MPC, when inaugurated on Monday, would join other stakeholders, to get it stabilized.
“The value of any currency is measured by the goods and services that it can buy, the Naira as it is today, does not possess that value sufficiently which is being critically looked into,” Yuguda stressed.
In his submission, the nominee from Lagos State, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi, said the way out now is to target the exchange rate and not inflation as has been done without much result.
He said: “More proactive way of addressing the Naira volatility problem at hand, is for the CBN to target the exchange rate itself and not inflation.
“The inflation the country is facing now is largely that of food inflation, which is beyond CBN but for the entire country.
“Production and distribution of food commodities across the country would help to reduce the food Inflation while the aggressive target of the exchange rate would help to stabilize the Naira with the required increase in productivity.”
Similarly, the nominee from Imo State, Mrs Aku Odinkemelu said productivity is the key to arresting the volatility of Naira and food inflation.
Other nominees drilled at the session by the committee were Professor Murtala Sagagi from Kano State, Bamidele Amoo from Kwara State and Aloysius Uche Ordu, who worked with the World Bank and Africa Development Bank, AfDB for 30 years at different times.
In his closing remarks, the chairman of the committee, Senator Abiru told the nominees that their screening was done ahead of the MPC meeting slated Monday next week by CBN.
He said what Nigerians expect to come after the meeting are solutions to the rising inflation rate, worsening Naira volatility in the FOREX market and rejuvenation of the economy generally.
(Daily Post)