Emefiele: present challenges would pave way for Nigeria's prosperity
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele has said that if well tackled, Nigeria's current economic challenges can pave the way to future prosperity for the country. This, he said was the reason why the federal government and the central bank are constantly formulating and re-evaluating policies they believe would set the country on the path of greater economic prosperity.
This is as he disclosed that losses due to cybercrimes across all sectors were estimated globally to hover between $400 – $550 billion in 2015. The figure, he said could rise to $2 trillion by the end of 2019.
"This amount is more than the annual GDP of most individual nations, including Nigeria. Here at home, we are not spared of losses due to cybercrimes and the global trend ought to alarm us about the gravity of this problem," he added.
The apex bank also denied insinuations of disagreement with the fiscal authority led by the Federal Ministry of Finance. "I want to say to a very large extent; there is coordination between the fiscal and the monetary authorities. We have the Federal Executive Council and the National Economic Council where the CBN Governor also seats. We may individually have different ways and tools to achieve results but we are all concerned about the current economic situation and all hands are on deck to pull this economy out of recession and we acknowledge that no single arm can do it alone".
In a related development CBN has announced plans to render financial services to villages across the country by the end of 2020. This was disclosed at a two-day CBN fair tagged, "Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development, " Benin Branch Controller, Mr. Richard Jumbo, said it has become pertinent to sensitise the people on their rights and duties as a customer, urging participants to be dedicated to preaching the CBN gospel of actualising a full cashless society by the year 2020.
According to him, "The banking sector has improved to the extent that you can buy and transfer money with your phone. You can use your ATM to pay for goods in shops through POS. The CBN now has a Central Complaints Center where customers can present their challenges which would be resolved immediately.