The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday pledged to support the productive sectors of the economy in its resolve to diversify and expand the economy, and threatened to suspend banks that help in fueling speculative demands for foreign exchange (forex).

According to Prompt News, the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, who spoke at a breakfast meeting with captains of industry and critical stakeholders in Lagos, said there was a “need to moderate demand”, and that there was “no need to panic and front-load demand for foreign exchange”.
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The CBN governor said that Nigerians should not panic as the fiscal and monetary authorities are on top of the current crude oil price crisis.
He said:“The CBN stands ready to meet genuine demand and stop speculative demand for foreign exchange. CBN will not hesitate to suspend dealership licenses of banks fueling speculative demand and involved in forex malpractices as well as infractions.

“We are monitoring the market to watch liquidity and would intervene when necessary. We have reserve of $34 billion at the moment and we will ensure that the reserve will not continue to go down but rise.”

Emefiele also assured Nigerians that the CBN is monitoring developments in both oil and non oil sectors of the economy, and will continue to take appropriate measures aimed at addressing liquidity and external reserves, and urged Nigerians not to panic.

It will be recalled that former CBN governor, Prof Charles Soludo, delivered a ruthless evaluation of the Nigerian economy under President Goodluck Jonathan, ranking the administration “F” on economic management.