The Nigerian Economic Society continued to provide intellectual leadership in economic management in Nigeria with the hosting of a public lecture on ” Recent Developments in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Issues, Options and Way Forward”
Expectedly, it was a gathering of experts.
The President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Professor Adeola Adenikinju, said the lecture was organised to enable the Society add its voice and expertise to the ongoing debate on the underlying cause, impacts and the solutions to the on going volatility in the foreign exchange market.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode O. Adebowale, mni, FAS, was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration, Professor Peter O. Olapegba, FNPA.
He described the lecture as very ‘topical and timely’ because the impact of the exchange rate is felt on the prices of all commodities that we consume.
The Chairman at the lecture, the Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Professor Antonia Simbine emphasised the signalling effect of demonstrable accountability and manifest transparency in the management of public resources at this time.
She said this has the value of building confidence and conferring much needed credibility on government actions, as well as winning the trust, support and buy-in of the mass of the people who have to make sacrifices to engineer a better future.
She advised further that “in the meantime, we need to manage expectations, minimize the inevitable hardships, and contain the incipient social discontent.”
The public lecture was delivered by Professor Sam Olofin, a professor of macroeconomics, development economics, and econometrics who had served as a member of the CBN Board and the Monetary Policy Committee under three different CBN Governors.
Professor Olofin was emphatic in his submission that the time had come for the government to rescue the naira by dislodging the powerful parallel market and its equally powerful operators.
He said it was important for the government to take decisive action, adding that market forces should not be left alone to clear the situation.
Professor Olofin stated that what the CBN is presently doing is necessary but insufficient, saying that many policies had been introduced to no avail in the past.
The Keynote Speaker was the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, who was represented by Dr Usman Okpanachi of the Monetary Policy Department.
Dr. Okpanachi stated that economic policies take time to have an impact, and the CBN was not resting on its oars and called for more patience and understanding from the public.
According to him, the apex bank prioritises policy coordination, and it is consciously interfacing with all the government agencies that play roles in financial policy making.
He said that the policies being made by the CBN seek to bring about transparency in the foreign exchange market.
The discussants at the lecture were Mr Bismarck Rewane and Dr. Tope Fasua. Mr Rewane, an alumnus of the Department of Economics of UI, is one of the most prominent public policy analysts in Nigeria while Dr Fasua is an economist, chartered accountant, public policy analyst, a former Presidential candidate and current Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs in the office of the Vice President of Nigeria.
Members of the audience both physically and virtually present were afforded the opportunity to ask questions or make contributions.
