Economic activities resumed throughout the country on Monday on a brighter note following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reassurance on the nation’s economic strong fundamentals.

The CBN assurance followed recent claims and counter claims over the nation’s foreign exchange liquidity profile, even as JPMorgan removed the country from its emerging market bonds index.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele while reaction to the concerns raised by the foreign rating agency, reassured Nigerians and foreign investors on the nation’s strong economic fundamentals.

He described the rating agency’s concerns and decision as baseless.

According to him, the nation’s ability to operate within 350 million dollars and 400 million dollars daily range of liquidity was a challenge.

He said that contrary to other opinions, the CBN had addressed the issue of transparency while meeting the dollar demand of the economy.

Nigerians were also emboldened further in the out gone week, as President Muhammadu Buhari announced Sept. 15, as deadline for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with treasury Single Account (TSA) directive.

The directive is aimed at consolidating Federal Government's accounts, especially revenue, engendering transparency and accountability.

The new government policy also reverberated negatively in commercial banks, in the week under review, as some economic experts expressed fears of possible retrenchment.

Although no commercial bank has so far retrenched any worker, the Nigeria Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) says over 20 million customers have so far been enrolled by banks under the ongoing Bank Verification Number (BVN) programme.

The milestone NIBSS said was part of the achievements towards creating a national data base.

NIBSS said it was collaborating with Etisalat to produce a BVN Query Service, designed to help the banking Nigerian public query their BVN on-the-go through mobile phones.

Overall, most stakeholders commended CBN for providing soft landing for the Nigerian economy, in the period under review.

They said the CBN’s proactive response on the concerns raised by JPMorgan on foreign exchange liquidity and transparency assisted tremendously in stabilising the economy. (NAN)

•Photo shows CBN Gov. Mr. Emefiele

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