Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo was on the hot seat at the Federal Executive Council meeting Wednesday as he fielded questions on the CBN's strategic plan on the redenomination of the naira rolled out two days ago.
* Economic team, CBN to finetune new monetary policy
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo was on the hot seat at the Federal Executive Council meeting Wednesday as he fielded questions on the CBN's strategic plan on the redenomination of the naira rolled out two days ago.
At the end of the long deliberation on the issue, the meeting presided over by President Umaru Yar'Adua mandated the yet to be inaugurated Economic Management Committee to work with the apex bank to finetune the policy aimed at strenghtening the naira against other currencies and report back to it.
When it becomes operational, the redenomination of the naira, according to the CBN will restore the value of the naira close to what it was before the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986 as it will as from August 1, 2008, exchange at N1.25k to $1 with N20 as the highest denomination.
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman who briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting in this regard said the decision to refer the matter to the economic team was to tidy up and clarify a few technical areas of the policy which were not too clear to the council.
"It was only on a few technical issues that President Yar'Adua said they should clarify with the economic management team. But the point has to be made that it is absolutely within the laws of the CBN to do what it has done," he stated.
The Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. John Odey who coordinated the event said the CBN's briefing of the council was part of its sensitisation of all the stakeholders on the policy, adding that it would involve all segments of the society, including the National Assembly.
Other decision of the council was to domicile the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The council had constituted a committee with the mandate to examine and make appropriate recommendation as to the desirability of domiciling the bureau in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation or to establish it as a separate entity.
On the issue of the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigComSat), Odey said the council directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to commence action through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for its privatization.
He explained that the privatization of NigComSat would be done in such a way that the Federal Government would not have its majority shares and the company could if it so desired apply for 3-G license with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to run other services.
The minister with whom was his minister of state also said the council deliberated on the monetization policy and emphasized on strict adherence to policy. It, however, approved the dedication of official vehicles each to the following officers during working hours only: Office of the Chief of Staff; Deputy Chief of Staff, ministers, special advisers and permanent secretaries.