Dollar Hoarder, Black market Operators, Risk Loosing Deposits – Sherrima

Those hoarding dollars and back market operators risk losing their deposits.

The new monetary policies of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will shock speculators, Vice President Kashim Shettima said yesterday.

Shettima dropped the hint at the lecture/launch of a book titled: “Cowries to Cashless,” which coincided with the 65th anniversary of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The vice president said government will soon roll out policies that will firm up the dwindling fortunes of the naira.

According to him, the President thinks far ahead of currency speculators.

At the launch were economic experts, scholars, businessmen and women, captains of industries and policymakers.

“The future of money, digital space and Central Bank of Nigeria” was the topic for discussion.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, the vice president said naysayers have cause to fear.

He said: “For those who are speculating and praying and wishing that the currency would become nonsense, I believe that the policies being rolled out by the CBN and the government that I serve, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will shock some of them very soon.”

On what the government plans to do, he said: “You need to listen to the man himself (Tinubu). You will see that the level at which he is thinking, he is far ahead of most of us.

“You know he has some very great ideas coming up. Some of them are what you’ve seen the reverse in the fall in the value of the naira, but he has also challenged us to review forward many of the targets. For example, the idea that Nigeria’s economy will get to a trillion dollars. He wants to achieve it by 2026.

“People thought the naira would continue to lose value and that was what I was mentioning. So, when someone is a visionary, leadership is about vision, and the man has the right vision for this country.

“To back it up, he has passion for the country; he believes in the country. For anyone who has that, you have to be fearful of betting against his policies.

“Like I said, you know that a weak currency is not something to brag about. And you have to be strategic if you want to position your exports properly; you have to be strategic in terms of the value of your currency.

“So, you will see all of these, including efforts from the fiscal side by the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for the Economy (Mr. Wale Edun). We have patriots running the economy right now. And naysayers have to be very, very afraid.”

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The CBN Governor, Mr. Yemi Cardoso, who was represented by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Mustapha Haruna, hinged the current economic challenges on several macro-economic issues.

He attributed them to the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Cardoso said he believed that the book (Cowries to Cashless) captured the evolutionary journey in the history of the CBN, adding that he expected several landmark developments — especially from the use of cowries to manilas and the more contemporary and modern era of cashless options.

Recalling the evolution of the apex bank, particularly with the local payment system in the last two or three decades, the CBN governor acknowledged the deepening of transformation in the sector by the cashless policy implementation.

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Cardoso said: “One of our strategic priorities in this effort is to foster financial inclusion and I’m very sure you will also relate to the progress we have made based on the current numbers.

“We have financial inclusion in the neighbourhood of about 64 per cent. Over 64 per cent of Nigerians have access to formal financial services. Our vision is to push the boundaries to over 95 per cent and we are well on course, in achieving that objective.”

The CBN boss assured that the CBN would continue to collaborate with the key stakeholders, particularly the fiscal authorities to ensure that it addressed a number of the essential issues and challenges that we currently face.