By Ikhili Ebalu, Benin City
The Nigeria Economic Society (NES) has called for the strengthening of collaboration between the group and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to support the reshaping of the Nigerian economy to boost growth and development.
The president of NES, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju made call during the courtesy visit of the group to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso on Tuesday, 14 November.
While lauding some of the policy initiatives of the new Central Bank Governor and his management team, Prof. Adenikinju called for the reconfiguration of the nation’s monetary architecture to align with the uniqueness of the Nigerian economic ecosystem.
“The NES lauds the positions and actions that the CBN has taken in recent times. Your decision that the CBN under your watch would stick to its primary responsibility of monetary and price stability is laudable. You have also indicated that there would be compliance with Statutory Laws and Regulations, and that the Bank would invest more in human capacity development. You have also indicated that you would work closely with your fiscal counterparts so as to promote a harmonious monetary and fiscal coordination.
“The steps taken by the CBN towards achieving exchange rate unification, and paying down on FX liabilities are steps in the right direction. Mr. Governor Sir, for us at NES, we are committed to partnering with the CBN to deliver a strong post-Covid 19 and post-oil Nigerian economy. In pursuing an effective monetary policy through the market, you should remember Keynes warnings that “When the facts change, I change my mind”. Just as he warned about the possibility of markets not being moved by reason but some animal spirits, implying that monetary policy should not just surrender to either the market or the government, given the well-known path to the failure of both in achieving optimal resource allocation.
“The monetary policy architecture should be configured to fit the uniqueness and urgent imperatives of the Nigerian economic ecosystem to leapfrog it unto a path of sustainable economic growth and development. In this onerous national task, the CBN should always count on us as dependable partners ready to give our hand of friendship and needed support when called upon”.
While advocating for new areas of collaboration, the NES President emphasised the need to strengthen economic research and policy reform collaborations between CBN and the NES in line with with global best practices.
“On Collaborative research, we think there are two key areas of need that NES can play an important role in helping the bank deliver on its mandates. First, although the bank has great capacity and resources for research, assessment studies of the effectiveness of bank’s own policies and interventions are best undertaken by independent reputable external entities, in line with international best practices, and are regarded more credible.
“Secondly, collaboration with NES can also focus specifically on advocacy, focusing on certain specific issues that the bank may choose from time to time, hence complementing the bank’s policy communication”.
Responding, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Olayemi Cardoso appreciated the NES Council members for the courtesy visit and lauded their continued policy advocacy in the Nigerian economy.
While promising to continue to collaborate with the NES as done by his predecessors, the new CBN Governor assured of his desire to take it a notch further for the mutually beneficial gains for the overall economic development and policy formulation in Nigeria.
He reaffirmed the Banks commitment to stick with the Price Stability goal of CBN as its overall objective and harped on the need for the NES to continue to train the up-coming economists in the country through well targeted capacity building programmes for an inclusive growth, while also supporting gender-equality.
In attendance were President: Prof. Adeola Adenikinju , Vice Presidents: Prof. Stella Madueme, National Secretary: Dr. Frank I. Ogbeide, Associate Editors: Prof. Mohammed Yelwa; Business Manager: Dr. Idris Mohammed Idris, Publicity Secretary: Dr. Oluwafemi Mathew Adeboje, Ex-Officio: Dr. Rislanudeen Muhammad , Ex NES President —Prof. Sarah Anyanwu
Also present was the host and CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi Dattijo, Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Dr. Hassan Mahmud, Director, Monetary Policy Department and Philip Ndanusa Wondi, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor.