By Nuel Suji, Abuja.
The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of Dr. Joseph Okwu Nnana as Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).
The decision followed the consideration of report of Senate Joint Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial institutions which was submitted to the upper chamber for consideration.
President of the Senate , Senator David Mark who congratulated the newly confirmed Deputy Governor of CBN, noted that the apex bank would play a crucial role in the current economic situation of the country.
He therefore urged the bank to work assiduously to make sure that the country does not find itself in a fix economically in view of the declining price of the crude oil in the international market.
Earlier Nnana, while answering questions from the committee members had explained that one of the ways to wriggle out of the economic crisis in the country was to recapitalise development banks with a view to encouraging them to lend at controlled interest rates.
“My take is that since we have development banks like the Bank of Industry, Nexim bank, Bank of Agriculture, and so on, we can recapitalise all of them and mandate them to lend at a fixed interest rate for the entrepreneurs and other investors willing to invest in the Nigerian economy,” he said.
Adding: “If we recapitalise the BoI and we tell the Managing Director that we are giving you this money, and ask him to lend at a specific interest rates, he will oblige us because it is the tax payers money.
“We cannot force the management of a private commissioned bank to lend at a fixed rate because they will take into consideration, the risk premium, especially when most people borrow without the intention of repayment.”
