….Nigeria Risks Slipping Into Recession Caused By Its Own Central Bank, Governors Warn Amid Naira Scarcity.
The continuous scarcity of the N200, N500 and N1,000 new notes may lead to economic recession as well as severe food crisis, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has warned.
This was contained in the Forum’s communique issued at the end of its meeting on Saturday.
According to the governors, the naira scarcity has far-reaching implications the risk of Nigeria slipping into another recession and food inflation, Channels TV reports.
Signed by the Chairman of the Forum and Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, the governors said even though the Supreme Court nullified the February 10 deadline given by the Nigerian government and the Central Bank for the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes, the effect had yet to be felt.
The statement reads in part, “The inability to use the new notes has had far-reaching economic effects, leading to the emergence of the Naira black market, severe food inflation, variable commodities prices based on the method of exchange, and long queues as well as crowds around Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and banking halls across the country with individuals hoping to get a fraction of their money in new notes to meet their daily livelihood.
“The country runs the risk of a CBN-induced recession. While we acknowledge the submission of the Attorney General of the Federation that the Federal Government will comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court which calls for the halting of CBN’s plan to end the use of the old currency notes, we are yet to observe changes in the financial system.
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“Consequently, we call on the Federal Government and the CBN to respect the Rule of Law and listen to the voice of reason expressed by Nigerians and several other stakeholders including the Council of State, before the damage to our economy becomes too great to fix by the next administration.”
The forum advised that the slowdown in economic activities could result in a recession, a sustained decline in economic activity—usually occurs when a country’s economy declines or contracts for two consecutive quarters.
