By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

ABUJA— THE Governor of Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, yesterday,
painted a gloomy picture of the economy
during a closed-door meeting with senators.
Vanguard gathered that the CBN governor told
the senators that it was frightening that the
nation was experiencing economic stagnation
and inflation at the same time, explaining that
ordinarily, both were not supposed to happen
simultaneously.

A source said he expressed concern that the
economy was gloomy, stagnant and worsening
as a result.

According to the source, Emefiele, who noted
that the economy was biting on all, with
almost all activities crippled, said indices that
would have made the economy grow were not
in place at the moment.

He was also said to have made reference to
the renewed bombing of pipelines by Niger
Delta Avengers as one of the factors pulling
down the economy.

The CBN governor was said to have Iinked
these occurrences, especially with respect to
the over 70 per cent decline in oil prices from
about S116 per barrel in June 2014 to about
$30 per barrel earlier in the year.

FG may not be able to pay workers' salaries
Vanguard further gathered that the CBN

governor told the lawmakers that if the present
situation in the country continued, the Federal
Government might not be able to pay salaries
of its workers with effect from October this
year. He also said Nigerians would be forced
to pay general taxes which would not exclude
petroleum products.

Emefiele, who was with the senators for an
hour, was said to have presented a
comprehensive account of the economy in the
last one year which, according to him, had
been characterised by external shocks,
including sharp decline in commodity prices,
geo-political tensions along important global
trading routes and tightening monetary policy
in the United States.

Senate backs CBN’s policies

The Senate was, however, said to have
expressed sympathy with the CBN governor
because of the depth of the economic
problems which, it noted, had global influence,
and threw its weight behind new policies
introduced by the CBN to turn the economy
around.

It backed the monetary policies of the CBN,
noting that at the end of the day, such policies
would help to increase local production, create
jobs in the country, safeguard the nation’s
commonwealth as well as expand economic
opportunities and growth in Nigeria.

The Senate in a statement after the executive
session, however, stressed the need for all to
put hands together to seek long term solutions
to the nation’s underlying problem of non-
diversification of foreign exchange earning and
revenues, rather than pointing fingers or
apportioning blames.

The statement read: “After the presentation,
many distinguished senators asked a host of
pertinent questions and raised issues
concerning the banking system, the slippage in
economic growth for the first quarter of 2016,
the gradual rise in inflation, fall in foreign
exchange reserves, and policy coordination
between the fiscal and monetary authorities.

"Following an exhaustive response by both the
governor and his team, the Senate
acknowledged that these are, indeed, difficult
times all over the world and not just in
Nigeria.

“The Senate also acknowledged the pains that
many people may be facing at this time,
especially in the light of increases in price of
electricity and fuels. But having carefully
considered the policies of the CBN, the Senate
would Iike to commend and support these
policies because they are mostly geared
towards increasing local production, creating
jobs here in Nigeria, safeguarding our
commonweaith, and expanding economic
opportunities and growth in Nigeria.

"It is critical that we all put hands together to
seek long term solutions to our underlying
problem of non-diversification of foreign
exchange earning and revenues, rather than
pointing fingers or apportioning blames.

"The Senate believes strongly in the resilience
of the Nigerian economy and the ingenuity of
the Nigerian people and as such, we are
confident that we will all puII through these
difficulties and come out as a much better,
equitable, and prosperous nation.”

Finance Minister to appear today

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Deputy
Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and
Public Affairs, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, said
the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, would
today appear before the Senate to brief it on
the state of the economy and issues relating
to the implementation of 2016 budget.

Asked why the meeting with the CBN governor
was held behind closed doors, Senator Bruce
explained that it became imperative to hold the
meeting in an exclusive manner because some
economic matters could be explosive, if held
in the open.

Source:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/nigerias-economy-in-bad-shape-cbn/

What is the government doing about that ? It is their primary responsibility to stare the affairs of this nations to the benefit of the masses.