Financial expert lauds Emefiele’s commitment to MSMEs

PROF Uche Uwaleke, the Chairman of Abuja Chapter of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), has commended Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, for his commitment to funding Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Uwaleke made the commendation in Abuja on Tuesday while reacting to the policy road map reeled out by Emefiele for next five years.

He said two of the five visions of the governor focused on his plan to address the problem of access to finance by MSMEs.

Uwaleke, a Professor of Finance and Capital Market in Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said more people would be employed when operators of MSMEs had access to credit.

“The focus of the bank to fund MSMEs is a good one and it is worthy of commendation.

“For instance, lending money to agriculture is enough to bring down the inflation rate. If agriculture gets more money, food prices will come down.

“Easy access to credit will also help to address the problem of unemployment in the country.

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“I am happy that the CBN governor is thinking towards that because even recently, when he talked about his monetary policy, Emefiele said it is going towards pro-growth.

“Pro-Growth means a policy that will be geared towards lower interest rate so that MSMEs can have access to credit.

“And, when that happens, the productivity level will increase and more people will be engaged.

“Easy access to credit through pro-growth policy will help to reduce unemployment which is the major challenge the economy has now,” he explained.

Uwaleke lauded Emefiele for many of his policies, which he said, had helped to stabilise the economy.

He said Emefiele’s effort in taking the country out of recession in 2017 was worthy of commendation.

Uwaleke also lauded Emiefele for his determination and commitment to ensuring exchange rate stability over a long period of time.

He said the current administration had also put inflation under control, adding that it was 18 per cent at a time, but had declined to 11.4 per cent.

“The CBN Governor also did well in ensuring stability in the financial system as banks did not record any major crisis in the sector for quite some time.

“The Anchor Borrowers’ programme is equally very successful. You would recall that this government campaigned on this project for the re-election of President Buhari.

“The policy on restriction on the importation of 41 items like rice, furniture, sugar and toothpick, among others, helped in reducing the demand for foreign exchange.

“This policy also encouraged and boosted domestic products in the country and some of these policies will boost the investor’s confidence,” he said.