The Central Bank of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government
to prioritise investment in infrastructure to improve the country’s business
environment and boost economic growth.
Mr Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor made the call Tuesday
night in Abuja while reading the communique on the 282nd Monetary Policy
Committee meeting of the apex bank.
Emefiele said that the MPC observed the impact of poor
infrastructure on rising domestic price levels.
He, however, commended government’s effort at economic
diversification while calling for more support to boost non-oil exports.
“The Committee commended the gradual diversification of the
economy with the increased contribution of the non-oil sector to Government
revenues.
“It called for more support to increase non-oil exports as a
source of foreign exchange earnings into the economy.
“Members also reiterated the impact of poor infrastructure
on rising domestic price levels, urging the Federal Government to prioritise
investment in public utilities to improve the business environment.
“These include transportation networks, power supply,
education and health,” he said.
He suggested that funding for such projects could be sourced
through equitable partnerships with foreign investors and Nigerians in
diaspora.
Emefiele explained that various intervention schemes by the
apex bank in manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, amongst others, have
contributed immensely in growing the economy.
“Under the Targeted Credit Facility, the CBN has disbursed a
total of N363.49 billion to 766,719 beneficiaries, comprising 638,070
households and 128, 649 small businesses.
“Under its Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprise
Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS), the bank has released N134.63 billion to 37,571
entrepreneurs,” he said.
He, however, noted the negative impact of COVID-19 on the
global economy and called for a robust vaccination programme to stem the tide,
especially with the emergence of new variants of the virus.
(NAN)
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com