CBN to intensify forex restriction

• Mobile courts to try naira abusers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may intensify its foreign exchange restriction on certain items as part of efforts to ease pressure on the country’s external reserves and boost local production.The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, dropped this hint while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Lagos yesterday. Besides the plan to intensify forex restriction, the Bankers’ Committee also disclosed that plans had been concluded to establish mobile courts to try people who abuse the naira. According to Wigwe, the Committee decided that the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), over time, should be channelled towards not only funding of agriculture, but also towards the financing of firms in the agriculture value chain as well as manufacturing.

He said: “The whole idea is to ensure that funds are channelled towards the funding of agriculture, firms in the agriculture food chain as well as manufacturing. Very soon, sometimes in the future, the CBN will start looking at ways of reducing forex allocation to these sectors.

“As bankers, we should focus on import substitution and ensure that we discourage the importation of the basic items that can be produced locally so that overtime, there will be no need to allocate resources for the importation of these items because in the final analysis, that is the only way to boost the economy of this country.” Also speaking at the briefing, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, FSDH Merchant Bank, Mrs. Hamda Ambah, said that the Committee had agreed on plans by the apex bank to spearhead the establishment of mobile courts to try those abusing the naira across the country.

The intention, according to her, was not to catch and punish anybody, but rather to encourage attitudinal change among Nigerians, adding that the committee was of the view that most of the people abusing the naira notes are doing it out of ignorance. However, commenting on naira abuse, the Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said that the CBN was determined to ensure that people stopped abusing the naira. Okorafor pointed out that the regulator was collaborating with the Nigerian Police and Ministry of Justice, among others, to ensure the takeoff of the mobile courts. He said: “We realise that it costs a lot of money to print naira notes.

The CBN Act of 2007 prohibits abuse of the local currency. The collaboration with the Police will intensify with the mobile courts. It is the duty of the law enforcement agents to arrest people. The Police will be everywhere to arrest people who abuse the naira. If you want to ‘spray’ naira, put it in an envelope or in a tray.

People will still notice you.” On his part, the Director of Banking Supervision at the CBN, Alhaji Ahmad Abdullahi, said that the committee discussed the economy, particularly the global challenge. He noted that despite rate normalisation in the United States, investors still had confidence in the economy, especially following the rise in the prices of crude oil and the level of external reserves. He said that the Committee decided that all hands must be on deck in order to ensure that economic growth is sustained.