He is the current Governor of the Central Bank Of Nigeria as appointed on 3rd of June 2009. Born on July 31, 1961 and from the lineage of Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi is a seasoned banker with banking experience spanning from the era of Morgan Guaranty Trust Bank of New York, Baring Brothers of London, United Bank for Africa, First Bank of Nigeria and to the present Central Bank Of Nigeria where he oversee the affairs and activities of the apex of financial institution.
With the ongoing nationwide strike against the removal of oil subsidy, below are his analyses:
· INFLATION
On inflation, he stated that he expected inflation to rise about 14 to 15% by the middle of this year due to the impact of the subsidy removal.
“Clearly inflation was always going to go up with the removal of subsidy. I think what we’ve seen is the immediate shock impact of a sudden removal and things will settle down. It took us one and half to two years from 2009 to come down to single-digit from 15.6 percent. I think a realistic target if we actually hit 15 percent, I think we will be looking at end of 2013 before we come back to single-digits,” the CBN Governor explained.
· ON THE STRIKE & ITS IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY:
The nationwide strike against government’s removal of fuel subsidy is costing the economy about N100 billion ($617million) daily, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has said.
· GOVERNMENT, LABOUR UNION, CIVIL RIGHT SOCIETIES & MASSES SAGA
“I think it’s time to make a deal, any kind of compromise should have a final deadline for removal of subsidy,” even as he suggested the option of keeping fuel price at N100 per litre and phasing out subsidies. But he insisted that the details should be left to the government and labour to decide.
Meanwhile, Sanusi while advocating for an agreement between the Federal Government and labour which would bring about gradual removal of the subsidy, said: “Look, the Federal Government can continue paying subsidy at N65 per litre for a while. I am not saying that it is not economically possible for that to be done, but speaking as a Nigerian, I will like to see a win-win situation.”
Meanwhile, Sanusi while advocating for an agreement between the Federal Government and labour which would bring about gradual removal of the subsidy, said: “Look, the Federal Government can continue paying subsidy at N65 per litre for a while. I am not saying that it is not economically possible for that to be done, but speaking as a Nigerian, I will like to see a win-win situation.”
· REVERSAL TO THE INITIAL OIL PRICE
Short-term reversal to N65 per litre that labour and civil society groups had been agitating for, would not hurt the economy.
· STATE OF THE ECONOMY
“The country is not broke, but a responsible government does not wait for the country to be broke before it can act and that is the point. The signals are all over there and you cannot continue borrowing just to pay for fuel subsidy. Do we wait until we are actually broke before we take the right decision? Look you’ve seen Greece, Spain, the Asian financial crisis, the Latin American crisis and we are clearly heading towards that if we continue borrowing, and such borrowings are not going into the development of infrastructure,” he explained.
· HIS IDEOLOGY ABOUT SUBSIDY
“Ideologically, I am a very strong supporter of subsidy, but those subsidies should be subsidies for production, for it to go to the poor and not middlemen. If we have a subsidy that supports the construction of refineries, I will support it, because the refineries will reduce our dependence on fuel, create jobs and probably enhance our export earnings. Subsidies for agriculture, by providing cheap feeds, cheap fertilizers to the farmers, training at low cost, I will support.”
Signature: D'Prince
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