Stakeholders have called for collaboration and synergy between government agencies handling fiscal and monetary policies to stabilize the nation’s economy.
They called on Thursday at the 2023 annual public lecture of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) in Ibadan.
The lecture’s theme is “The Dynamics of Leadership in Fiscal and Monetary Policies: The Central Bank of Nigeria in Perspective”.
In his keynote address, Dr Nkemdilim Iheanachor, Academic Director, Senior Management Programme, Lagos Business School, evaluated the present administration’s policies given its short, medium and long-term effects on Nigerians.
He noted that “if the government doesn’t rise to provide the social interventions needed and promote exporting of locally made goods, there could be social crises and insecurity problems arising from increased poverty rate and unemployment.
Iheanachor called for structural and institutional reforms to address the situation, noting that policy changes were insufficient.
According to Godwin Oyedokun, a Professor of Accounting and Financial Development at the Lead City University Ibadan, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is vital in providing leadership in fiscal and monetary policies.
Oyedokun said “The apex bank guides fiscal actions by formulating and implementing monetary policies to ensure transparency and accountability.
“Promoting collaboration, effective leadership in these areas is crucial for maintaining macroeconomic stability, fostering sustainable growth and addressing emerging challenges.”
Earlier, the President of ICSAN, Mrs Funmi Ekundayo, said the lecture’s theme was apt considering the various issues confronting the nation’s economy.
She said “The relevance of this theme is also underscored by the Nation’s recent experience in CBN’s implementation of some important macroeconomic policies.
“Our grappling experiences with the change of the national currency with its attendant multifarious hiccups together with a cashless policy are recent cases in point.
“These inferences, coupled with CBN’s conventional interventions such as the control of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which is the baseline interest rate, in tandem with the rate of inflation, shows the reality of the control the Apex Bank exercises on the nation’s economy.
“As a governance institute, we should be concerned about how the CBN conceives and implements its monetary policies because of its far-reaching consequences for the nation’s growth and development.”
In his speech, the Vice-Chancellor, Lead City University Ibadan, Prof. Labour Adeyemo, stressed the need for multiple approaches to solving the economic problem of Nigeria.
