Increase In Crude Price To Boost Economy – Emefiele

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has said the sustained increase in the price of crude oil would boost the Nigerian economy in 2022.

A statement yesterday, said the positive outlook for the economy was due to prediction of the commodity to exceed $70 per barrel.

The governor of the apex bank added that the implementation of the Economic Sustainability Plan and a rebound in manufacturing activities as well as improved business confidence are other factors for the positive outlook.

He said since the economy rebounded after two quarters of contraction, the non-oil and services sectors have made major contribution to the economic growth which he said occurred due to its interventions in the critical sectors of the economy.

“These successes have been through the monetary and exchange rate policies to stabilize exchange rate, the implementation of the Economic Sustainability Plan, and the nationwide improvement in vaccine administration and coverage.”

He added the banks short term efforts to save the economy after the shock of the pandemic was through creating a N100 billion target credit facility for affected households and small and medium enterprises through the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank and a N100bn intervention fund in loans to support pharmaceutical companies among others.

He identified its medium-term intervention as the creation of the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility and support for the Auto-Gas Conversion Programme of the Federal Government.

Emefiele projected a 15.35 percent inflation rate by December 2021 which would drop further to 14.91 the first quarter of 2022 and Nigeria’s external reserves to surpass $42bn by mid-2022.

This, he said, was due to the favourable impact of the various CBN and government interventions in the agriculture and the real sector.