The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said that the pandemic has given the country an opportunity to create a resilient economy.
Emefiele said this at the Bankers’ Committee conference in Lagos, adding that Nigeria must build positive momentum in 2021.
The Nigerian economy exited a recession with a slight growth rate of 0.11 percent, despite the impact of the pandemic.
Emefiele said, “Fiscal and monetary policy could boost Nigeria’s recovery prospects. It is therefore imperative that we do all we can in 2021 to ensure that we build on the positive momentum and strengthen our efforts at stimulating growth.
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“These measures are essential if we are to return our economy to a sustainable growth path while reducing our exposure to volatility in commodity prices.
“Over the next three years, we will continue to encourage the banking sector to increase its loans to the agriculture sector from 4 percent to 10 percent by 2024. We are also pursuing an in-depth restructuring of the Nigeria Commodities Exchange Board in order to improve access to finance as well as productivity for stakeholders in the agriculture sector.
“COVID-19 has brought on several challenges to our economy, it also offers a unique opportunity for us to build a more resilient economy in 2021 that is better able to contain external shocks whilst supporting growth and wealth creation in key sectors of our economy.”
