The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has described as a non-issue, allegations that the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN printed between N50 billion to N60 billion to augment the shortfall in the distribution of federation revenues to the three tiers of government in March 2021.

APC which stated its position in a statement issued Sunday in Abuja by the National Secretary of its Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe equally urged Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo state and the Peoples Democratic Party PDP to allow the apex bank do its job.

The statement reads; “Central banks all over the world print money. During the financial crisis of 2008-09, the Reserve Bank of the US printed dollars to bail out companies that were too big to fail. There is nothing wrong in printing money provided it is well managed.

“There is no evidence that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is inefficient in managing the monetary aspect of the Nigerian economy. Let us not forget that the CBN is banker to government and has exercised such function efficiently and effectively.

“The development function of the CBN has resulted in various intervention funds in several sectors of the economy. The All Progressives Congress (APC) inherited an economy which showed signs of a recession from 2012. The economy left by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had no forex to run the system. The looting of our commonwealth was unprecedented in history. Productivity was declining.

“The APC government implemented aggressive fiscal and monetary policies which resulted in the country’s economy exiting recession in 2016. The economy was back on the path of positive growth trajectory. Then came the global health pandemic and sharp decline in oil prices throwing the economy into another recession. The quick intervention of the APC government through the Economic Sustainability Plan fast-tracked the recovery from recession to the shock and surprise of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and other stakeholders.

“Whether the CBN prints money or not is not an issue. The Apex Bank should be allowed to perform its mandate. The CBN has several ways of creating ‘new’ money. The evidence suggests that money supply in the economy is at the appropriate level. The PDP needs to understand how money is created as well as provide evidence showing the composition of M1, M2 and M3 in the Nigerian economy.

“The utterances of the PDP would create problems for the economy. What PDP should do is join hands with the APC to clear the mess they left behind. To destroy is very easy but to build is a task the APC is committed to”.

TodayNG