The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Monday it is in the process of finalizing the creation of a N500 billion fund with the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to assist local manufacturers interested in non-oil exports.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this at the ongoing financial journalists workshop in Uyo, Akawa Ibom State, said the fund would enable the economy consolidate on the gains of local production and boost non-oil exports.
Emefiele, who was represented by CBN Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, said the apex bank would continue to take major steps to support the economy and real sector operators.
Speaking on the theme: “Sustaining Economic Growth Beyond Recession,” the CBN governor said it is key to remember how the economy got into a recession in the first instance.
He said Nigeria entered recession due to significant fall in oil prices from an average of about $110 per barrel to as low as $28 per barrel, normalization of Monetary Policy by the United States’ Federal Reserve System, which led to a stoppage of injection of about $85 billion per month into the global economy; and geopolitical tensions amongst critical trading routes and partners around the world.
This, he said, led to slowdown in economic growth, culminating in five consecutive quarters of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contraction bottoming at -2.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, having grown by nearly seven per cent in previous years; rising Inflation, peaking at over 18 per cent in January 2017, from as low as nine per cent, in January 2016.
He said the foreign reserves would continue to grow, adding that the reserves may hit $50 billion sometime later this year even as the economic recovery continues.