Rice, other goods produced in Nigeria shore up foreign reserves to $42.8bn –CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says the country’s foreign reserves has hit $42.8 billion, attributing the steady growth to its policies targeting reduction in importation of goods, especially rice and other food that can be produced in the country.

CBN’s spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during a meeting with Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), explained that rice production under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, remains a reference point in the bank’s efforts at conserving the nation’s foreign exchange.

“CBN decided to go into the funding of rice and other agricultural produce because we felt that food supply is key if price stability is to be maintained – food makes up a disproportionately large portion of the basket of prices in the country. We decided to target food supply to bring down inflation.

“Second, we went into this business of funding agriculture because we felt that food, especially rice, was a key component of importation in Nigeria. It was, therefore, a key component in the depletion of our foreign reserves.

“So we felt if we could deal with rice importation and replace it with local rice production, we would be working at rebuilding our reserves. And I tell you, we have succeeded in meeting those two objectives. Our serves are up.

‘’The reserves have gone to $42.8 billion as at yesterday (Tuesday) and you can see the inflation figures have been dropping and we expect this to continue throughout the year,” Okoroafor said.

The CBN meeting with RIFAN marked the beginning of a new form of collaboration involving the apex bank and commodity associations, to reach producers of various commodities in the country.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s economy receives uplift as inflation drops to 15.13% in January

President of the RIFAN, Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, said in his remarks that the association has keyed Nigeria into the global agric-business practice.

He assured that RIFAN has the capacity to handle the new collaboration with the CBN as over six million rice farmers in the country have been placed on a digitised platform with biometric cards by which each member could receive adequate inputs and funding.

 

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