₦airaland Forum

MThe Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, has appealed to bandits to drop their arms and embrace the federal government’s initiative, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
The apex bank chief made the call at the end of a two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, saying embracing the programme will be of help to the terrorists.

“I would like to appeal to our brothers, who decide that they want to live in bushes and forests that they should please, begin to retreat, drop their arms and come and embrace the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
“If they do so, it will help them but if they choose not to do so, they will be confronted by the security as this battle continues,” The Apex bank Governor said.

The CBN head also mentioned that the activities of these criminals were taking a toll on the nation’s economy as security could influence a nation’s growth.
“If you expect an economy to grow, the level of insecurity must be low because if there is a high level of insecurity, then the economy will suffer,” the central banker said.

He, however, expressed optimism over efforts by security operatives in combating various challenges facing Nigeria, saying that the country is expecting six fighter aircraft before the end of the year.

“I am optimistic that the security operatives are doing their best to tackle insecurity,” the CBN head noted.
“About three years ago, the federal government and the United States signed a pact that resulted in a government-to-government acquisition of military equipment out of which we are expecting 12 Tucano aircraft or fighter planes that will help combat insecurity.
“I am aware that six of them are coming to the country in the month of July and August. I am optimistic before the end of the year, around the year of the end, the security challenges confronting the country will substantially abate,” the hCBN head added

#Emefiele has disclosed that Central Bank of Nigeria will no longer support the continued importation of items that can be produced in Nigeria.
The governor said #CBN will collaborate with all States in supporting the development of workable agricultural and manufacturing sectors across the country.
The governor further said #CBN mandate is to promote economic growth for the country. One major challenge to agricultural activities is land development in the Southern parts due to its topography.
However, #CBN has partnered with several State Governments in the region under the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS).
#Emefiele at the launch of the Rivers Cassava Processing Company Limited urged all Governors to make their States more viable by investing more in agriculture, particularly crops in which they have a comparative advantage.
This will as well help reduce their dependence on allocations from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has warned that most cryptocurrency transactions are illegitimate. Emefiele made this assertion during the monetary council meeting held at the Headquarters of the Apex Bank in Abuja.

Responding to a question raised by journalist at the meeting if he had a sense of consolation about the plunge in Bitcoin, The CBN Governor responded by saying that the bank has conducted research that show that most cryptocurrency transactions are illegitimate, and that he was not astonished about the recent fall of Bitcoin.

The Governor also said that under the #Bitcoin cryptocurrency transactions, Nigeria comes 2nd but in the global size of the economy, Nigeria comes 27th.
The Governor further said, that the Apex Bank is still working on its data and will make it available to the public soon.

Governor on #cryptocurrency

During the #MPC 279th meeting, the governor said investigation shows that most people are getting involved with #cryptocurrency & this is a huge concern because even though some are legitimate, most are not.

#Bitcoin 


#Nigeria
#Crypto
#Update

The House of Representatives advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the recapitalisation of microfinance banks in the country.

How we got here?¿
In October 2018, CBN reviewed the minimum share capital requirement of the three categories of microfinance banks in the country, with unit MFBs required to raise their capital base from N20 million to N200 million, state MFBs from N100 million to N1 billion and national MFBs from N2 billion to N5 billion.
On March 18, 2019, the banking sector watchdog further reviewed the minimum capital requirements for the MFBs, allowing for instalment payment and categorization of unit MFBs into tiers 1 and 2, thus following the new capital requirement guideline, tier 1 MFBs (urban) were to pay N200 million as a minimum capital requirement while tier 2 (rural) were to pay N50 million as against the initial N20 million requirement in 2018.
In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on the economy, the CBN, therefore, revised the timeline for compliance with the minimum capital requirement for the MFBs by one year, which will be due by April 30, 2021.
The green chamber of the parliament while deliberating on the matter on Wednesday, warned that if the policy is allowed to take effect as planned for April 2021, it could further sink the nation’s economy.

They asserted that out of the 874 licensed microfinance banks in Nigeria, only 262 of them have met the new minimum capital base requirement, indicating that 612 MFBs, which is equivalent to 70 per cent of the entire Nigerian MFBs, would go out of business and could throw about 44,800 employees of the companies into the already oversaturated labour market, which will then aggravate unemployment.

During the plenary the lawmakers said the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the country’s economy last year, which pushed Nigeria into a recession and it would be unwise to allow the recapitalisation programme to further compound the woes of the nation.

The house enjoined the CBN to “suspend the planned recapitalisation program until the economy stabilizes and considered safe for a new deadline to be fixed.”
It then mandated its “Committee on Banking and Currency to interface with the CBN to find a workable solution to the challenges associated with the recapitalisation of the MFBs in Nigeria and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.”

KEY FOREX WINDOWS CENTRAL BANK OPERATES.

The central bank operates three key forex windows and they have special rates the Dollar is exchanged for the Naira.

The first is the official exchange rate segment called the interbank. This is where government Dollar transactions are priced.

The second is the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window and it is for those who bring in items into the country.

while the third is the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment, which caters for foreign travels, medicals, school fees, amongst others.

Those who do not qualify or are unable to source for forex at these regulated windows usual approach the unregulated market segment fondly called the black market or the parallel market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) threatens to sanction Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other authorised foreign exchange (forex) dealers rejecting old/lower denominations of US Dollar bills.

This threat was given by the Bank via a circular issued by the Director of Currency Operations Department of the CBN, Mr Ahmed Umar.

The apex bank said it is wrong for banks and authorised FX dealers to reject lower or old Dollar bills from their customers, noting that it would no longer accept such.

In the circular, the CBN explained that it issued this warning after receiving several complaints from customers and members of the public.
It further advised banks and forex dealers to desist from defacing the foreign currency as it was making it difficult to authentic it during sorting and processing.

“All DMBs/authorised forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of the United States Dollars that are legal tender for deposit from their customers.

Last week central bank announced that it has added sugar and wheat to its FX restriction list.

What does FX restrictions mean?

This means that federal government will no longer give dollar to individuals seeking the same for the purpose of importing wheat and sugar.

Can one import if you source for your own forex?

Yes you can, however by procedure the bank is required to get an approval from CBN before processing your form M. Accompanied also by an evidence to show you have your own forex in domiciliary account.


The implication of the addition
With the latest development, those who intend to import sugar and wheat into Nigeria will have to source for forex at the black market, which will make the price rise at the market because of the exchange rate.
The option left for them is to key into the backward integration policy of the federal government by investing in the local production of wheat and sugar.

CBN Admits Printing Money to Boost Allocations to States.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that one of its key mandates under the law is to print money to support the government whenever there is a crisis.
To douse the controversy, The apex bank Governor further explained that, the concept of printing of money is about lending money and that is our job...It will be irresponsible for the CBN or any Central Bank or Fed to stand idle and refuse to support its government at a time like this.

https://newsrand.com/2021/04/23/osinbajo-obaseki-lied-cbn-didnt-print-n60bn/[/quote]