FG, CBN To Blame For Nigeria's Economic Woes--WAIFEM

 

Director-General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, WAIFEM, Professor Akpan Ekpo, says the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, are to be blamed for the country’s current economic woes and its recent plunge into recession.

WAIFEM was established July 22, 1996, by the governors of the Central Banks of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

In an email response to Vanguard enquiries in Abuja, Ekpo, an economists, former CBN director as well as ex-Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, noted that the delay in passing and implementing the 2016 budget and the CBN’s monetary and foreign exchange policy stance helped worsened the country’s economic situation.

He said Nigeria’s economy is almost directionless because of what he called “near absence of fiscal policy”.

 “There was a near absence of fiscal policy – the economy lacks the necessary fiscal buffers. Money and exchange rate policies were the only voice. Rather than implementing quantitative easing, the CBN was interested in tightening monetary policy. When an economy is almost in a recession, monetary expansion would help towards recovery.”

Ekpo further argued that the CBN’s foreign exchange framework was another policy in the wrong direction, stating that rather than implementing a robust managed exchange rate regime, the CBN allowed the naira, which is not convertible, to float freely looking for a non-existent stability and equilibrium in both the short and long-terms.

Recession: FG, CBN to blame for economic woes — WAIFEM DG On September 5, 201612:41 amIn NewsComments By Michael Eboh ABUJA— Director-General of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, WAIFEM, Professor Akpan Ekpo, weekend, blamed the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the country’s current economic woes and its recent plunge into recession. WAIFEM was established July 22, 1996, by the governors of the Central Banks of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. In an email response to Vanguard enquiries in Abuja, Ekpo, an economists, former CBN director as well as ex-Vice Chancellor of the University of Uyo, noted that the delay in passing and implementing the 2016 budget and the CBN’s monetary and foreign exchange policy stance helped worsened the country’s economic situation. Laments near absence of fiscal policy He said: “There was a near absence of fiscal policy – the economy lacks the necessary fiscal buffers. Money and exchange rate policies were the only voice. Rather than implementing quantitative easing, the CBN was interested in tightening monetary policy. When an economy is almost in a recession, monetary expansion would help towards recovery.” He further argued that the CBN’s foreign exchange framework was another policy in the wrong direction, stating that rather than implementing a robust managed exchange rate regime, the CBN allowed the naira, which is not convertible, to float freely looking for a non-existent stability and equilibrium in both the short and long-terms. Udoma-Adeosun-EmefieleUdoma-Adeosun-Emefiele

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/09/recession-fg-cbn-blame-economic-woes-waifem-dg/