The Central Bank of Nigeria has finally voiced its frustration on the activities of critics and certain individuals whom the apex bank said has been targeting its activities.
In an email statement released by the CBN, the apex bank said that its finding show that the motives of such individuals ” “are anything near altruistic but rather self-serving and unpatriotic”.
The CBN said they “have remained persistent in their move to misinform the larger public, with the intention of discrediting genuine efforts at managing the economy, thereby creating public distrust and panic within the financial system. Indeed, self-centered individuals, who have failed to assail our patriotic position, have resorted to the sponsorship of serial propaganda to misinform and mislead the public on the objectives of our policies.
However the CBN said “Intelligence reports at the disposal of the Bank reveal the involvement of some unpatriotic elements funding the push to have the CBN and the Federal Government reverse its FOREX policy, which is aimed at conserving foreign exchange, stimulating agriculture and manufacturing and also promoting exports. The present economic challenges that we face have been worsened by our past practice of frittering away huge earnings made from oil sales, over the years.
Standing on its policy “As we have explained severally, our decisions on FOREX management are prompted by the challenge posed by the level of depletion of the country’s reserves, arising from issues such as a drastic reduction in oil earnings, speculative attacks and round tripping. It is pertinent to note that pressures on the country’s foreign reserves have persisted due to a huge fall in the monthly foreign earnings, which fell from over US $3.2 billion sometime in 2013 to below $500 million per month sometime in 2016, when the demand for the US dollar, particularly by importers, continued to rise considerably”.
Nigeria’s economy has been in a free-fall since global crude oil prices fell by over 70% in 2016. The economy is also in a recession, a situation which is expected to to taper towards the end of the third quarter of this year. However, there are still challenges such as Forex drought and a collapse in infrastructure.
