Senate meets Emefiele, Adeosun over state of economy

The Nigerian senate on Tuesday met with Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, over the state of the economy.

The leadership of the senate met with Emefiele and Adeosun behind closed doors to discuss the fiscal and monetary policies of the Nigerian economy.

Senate President Bukola  Saraki said the team discussed diversification of the local economy and the new foreign exchange regime.

The new foreign exchange regime was introduced about a week before the senate went on recess, with little  opportunity to see its effect on the Nigerian economy at large.

Since the introduction of the regime, the naira has depreciated by over 30 percent in 2016 to become the African continent’s worst performer for the year.

This meeting is coming a week before the CBN monetary policy committee meeting on fresh direction for the economy and necessary monetary policy in the face of growing inflation.

Inflation rose to its highest point since Olusegun Obasanjo’s era as Nigeria’s president — 2005.

On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast from 2.3 percent in April to -1.8 percent.

The President Muhammadu Buhari economic team has said repeatedly that the government is committed to diversifying the economy and enshrining fiscal discipline.