The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has bemoaned the about $40 billion depletion from the nation’s external reserves in 10 years due to the taste for imported goods by Nigerians.
To stop bleeding the external reserve, the CBN has urged Nigerians to begin to process raw materials so as to get more value and earn more foreign exchange.
According to the CBN governor Godwin Emefiele, “exported raw materials such as crude, wood, cocoa amongst others whose end products are later imported, are being sold cheaply and bought back at more expensive rates.”
He said the level of the external reserve will be significantly beefed up if fuel which takes up 20 per cent of Nigeria’s import bill is locally produced.
Defending the decision of the CBN to support the real sector, Emefiele said the apex bank “is convinced that the sector has sufficient employment capabilities, high growth potentials, contributes significantly in accretion to foreign reserves, expands the industrial base and diversify the growth potentials of the economy.”
Emefiele said Nigerians must, by now have been tired of hearing people talk about the potentials of Nigeria, adding that now is the time to live that dream. “ We can achieve our goals and give Nigerians the chance to live longer, better and more fulfilled lives,”he said.
To make this possible, the CBN governor urged “to Nigerians to patronise locally made products to encourage the manufacturers to remain in business, interventions by the bank are centered around agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Infrastructure intervention.”
The CBN governor also disclosed that in order to make the real sector attractive to the banking industry, the apex bank has injected over N1.3 trillion into the sector.
