The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said his bank is introducing initiatives to encourage Nigerians to consume what they produce and also export.
He spoke at the opening of its 32nd seminar for finance correspondents and business editors in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Thursday,explained that such a drive made the apex bank introduced the Produce, Add Value, and Export initiative.
He said, “Produce, Add Value and Export is expected to make Nigerians consume what they produce, add value to it, and even export the surplus. “It is an initiative akin to South-East Asia’s much referenced export-led industrialisation policy which changed the economic fortunes of countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. “PAVE is designed to be the key for fast-tracking a bucket of substitutes to crude oil export. It encourages backward integration for the local production of select items.”
He said that the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the biggest crises that had faced mankind in recent history, impacted economies, and disrupted business activities globally.
He added that Nigeria like most commodity-dependent countries was not spared the dangerous impact of the pandemic, given the dependence on crude oil export as a major source of revenue and foreign exchange.
He also revealed that the apex bank has marshalled a cocktail of programmes and policies, which have helped keep the local currency stable.
He noted that the apex bank’s demand management policy was one of the rafts that made the naira remain largely stable at the import and export (I & E) window, particularly since the discontinuation of foreign exchange allocation to Bureau De Change operators along with the convergence between the CBN and NAFEX rates.
“Banks are now able to meet the demands of their customers seeking forex for SMEs, school fees, medical and PTAs. “Our current account deficit has narrowed significantly due to a surplus position in the goods account.
The surplus position in the goods account is occasioned by a reduction in imports, increase in crude oil and gas export receipts, and improvement in remittances. Remittance inflows have been supported by our ‘Naira for Dollar’ scheme, and we have seen a surge in remittance inflows
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