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… To sustain intervention in 2022
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, Friday said barring any unforeseen economic challenges, the country’s external reserves will surpass $42 billion in Q2 2022.
Also, the apex bank governor, informed that the much awaited Infrastructure Corporation (InfraCorp) will take off in February with N1.5 trillion investment in three infrastructure projects across the country.
Emefiele gave this remarks in Lagos while presenting the keynote address at the Annual Bankers Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN.
As against his outlook for 2021, Emefiele projected that the the nation’s external reserves will surpass $42 billion in the second quarter of next year while the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will strenghten with robust growth rate next year.
InfraCorp
Speaking on the InfraCorp, Emefiele said: “We recently appointed four fund managers, and a Management Team has been selected to run and manage Infracorp.
“Over the next two months, Infracorp will kick off its operations by targeting strategic infrastructure projects that would help catalyze further growth of our economy. Infracorp is expected to set the standard template that will help in enabling greater private sector funding for public infrastructure projects in Nigeria.”
External Reserves
On the outlook for the nation’s external reserves, the CBN boss said: “Based on in-house analysis and simulations, external reserves could surpass $42 billion by mid-2022 from the $41.5 billion in 2021’Q3, based on the dynamics of oil price and forex demand for import.
“Generally, external reserves is expected to be at relatively comfortable levels with expectation of sustained trend of current crude oil price, the impact of Eurobond Issuance, and stable exchange rate condition.
GDP Growth
Continue, Emefiele said: “Real GDP growth rate is projected to remain robust and strengthen within the short-term.
“Output growth rate is projected to remain positive from 4.03 percent in 2021’Q3 to nearly 2.91 percent in 2021’Q4, implying a total growth of about 3.10 percent for 2021. Short-term projection indicates a continued strengthening of the growth rate. Deliberate structural policies and reforms are needed to raise these projected trend higher towards the desired 5 percent average growth level.”
Emefiele however said the CBN will need to sustain it’s intervention efforts to sustain the nation’s economic recovery, given the high unemployment and inflation rate.
He said: “I would like to state that notwithstanding these positive indicators, our economic growth remains fragile, as our unemployment and inflation rate remain at levels that are not very supportive of growth. “Second, continued implementation of our intervention efforts would need to be undertaken to sustain the recovery efforts and stimulate further growth of the economy.
“Third, given population growth at about 2.7 percent annually, it is important that we continue to deploy measures that will enable our economy to attain annual growth rates of over 5 percent.”
Photo Caption: L – R: Abubakar Sani Bello, Governor of Niger State; Bayo Olugbemi, President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN); Babajide Sanwoolu, Lagos State Governor; Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Herbert Wigwe, GMD, Access Bank; and Ademola Adebise, GMD, Wema Bank at the 56th Annual Bankers Dinner in Lagos on Friday.
