The Central Bank of Nigeria has expressed concern over the nation’s declining economic growth.
Moses Tule, the Central Bank’s monetary policy director while speaking with reporters said “We are concerned that we are having declining growth.”
Tule defended CBN’s decision to impose currency controls to preserve foreign reserves, which fell 23 per cent in the year to Sept. 23.
While addressing executives who complained about the dollar controls at a conference in Lagos, he reportedly said “We have to protect the nation before we protect businesses.”
He added that “There’s sufficient liquidity in the Nigerian banking system to take up whatever foreign investors may dump, so we are not disturbed.”
Last week, while speaking at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja , CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said Nigeria might slip into economic recession in 2016.
Emefiele said “Two consecutive quarters of slow growth, the economy could slip into recession in 2016 if proactive steps are not taken to revive growth in key sectors of the economy.
“The overall economic environment remains fragile. The economy further slowed in the second quarter of the year, making it the second consecutive quarterly less-than-expected performance.”