The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, explained that the 2016 food grain mop up scheme was initiated by the federal government to save the country from food crisis. The apex bank noted that the scheme saved Nigeria from looming danger arising from threat from export of the nation’s food grains by foreign companies. CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele stated these during his presentation before the House of Representatives committee on Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness, at the continuation of public hearing on the investigation of the activities of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Emefiele who was represented by the Director of Banking and Finance, Mr Dipo Fatokun, noted that the apex bank contacted four companies to mop up food grains around the country. He stated that CBN as the monitor of country’s economic system, took necessary steps to prevent imminent food crisis due to rising inflation, price increase of commodities and falling value of naira. All these according to him, necessitate the need to encourage local farmers and spare the country the consequence of the activities of foreign companies. He added that the mop-up programme was not an annual project but an intervention scheme carried out for that year to save a situation. He also noted that the participating companies were fully paid for the loan they sourced from banks to executed the project. He however disputed the assertion that the fund was credited to an Infrastructure Euro bond saying that the loan was raised by the Debt Management Office (DMO) as a debt for CBN from the N200 billion Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme. “These companies were selected because they were big ticket off takers and known by grain farmers, that’s why they were invited to participate in the special programme of grain mop-up. As to the status of the loan, the loan was given to the four banks in December 2016 and fully paid up between October and November 2017,” he said. “The funding, as stated by us at our first appearance at this public hearing, we are bankers to the government, we maintain government accounts and we act on mandates received from government just as commercial banks act on mandates received from their customers. “The Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) will be in a better position to throw light on that,” he added.

http://www.akelicious.net/2018/06/cbn-explains-2016-grain-mop-up-programme.html

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