A coalition of Civil Society Groups, under the auspices of Vanguard for Social Justice (VSJ), has supported the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with the Federal Government, to revive the economy.
Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, the convener, Etuk Bassey William, commended the policies of the CBN, particularly the blockage of leakages to the country’s foreign reserves as well as the injection of funds into the real sector, with a view to revamping the ailing economy.
William, who noted that the current economic challenges and recession were the culmination of many years of financial imprudence on the part of government at different levels, noted that the CBN had shown leadership by daring to plug loopholes in Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
“By restricting Forex allocation to 41 items in which Nigeria has comparative advantage, the CBN has given new lease of life to many companies that were hitherto suffering from strangulation brought about by the importation of items that can be produced in the country,” he noted.
“Instead of condemning the difficult decisions taken by the management of the CBN to ensure there is no total collapse in the economy, stakeholders should commend the CBN for its positive move of digging Nigeria out of recession,” William added.
The coalition group also faulted calls for the resignation of the CBN Governor over the current exchange rate of the Naira, stressing that the value of the Naira would only witness an upward spike when the country exports more goods and services to earn foreign exchange.
While urging the Federal Government to make good its promise of diversifying the economy, he charged Nigerians to re-enact their patriotic zeal by patronizing made in Nigeria goods and services in order to achieve a more diversified economic system.
