Financial houses in Lagos have recommended the federal government on its decision to make the Central Bank autonomous.
The decision was hailed yesterday by banker who saw it as not only bold but a step in the right direction.
Senior banking official in leading banks head offices in Lagos who pleaded anonymity in an opinion poll told The Republic implemented will end the present frustration and lack of job satisfaction among staffers of CBN.
A top official of UBA said it will be a welcome development if the CBN is taken out of the ambit of the civil service. Adding that it will make the bank to be more responsive and efficient in carrying out its financial role in the country.
The UBA top source further said the present structure, affiliation of CBN with the ministry of finance encourages bureaucratic bottlenecks, lack of defined role, frustration of officials and lack of loyalty and dedication in the prime bank.
The source attributed the present low job moral and level of fraud involvement among CBN staffers to its attachment to the ministry of finance and the civil service orientation of the bank. According to him, to allow for probity the apex bank should be autonomous.
At First Bank Nigeria Limited, one of the top managers simply equipped it will the best thing to happen to the Nigerian Financial system is the CBN is made an autonomous institution.
According to him, the CBN as of today mus acts as the financial mouthpiece of government. Whatever it does is biased in favour of government.
If made independent, CBN will be able to offer professional and objective advice to government and act in the best interest of financial institutions.
At Continental Merchant Bank, CMB, an official said that a happy development will prevent civil servants and political appointees from using the CBN to front for them.
The CBN according to our CMB source will be more conscious of the fact that whatever it does would be the criteria and parameter with which its efficiency and effectiveness will be evaluated.
The source however, said that the proposed CBN autonomy must be realistic and effective as against rhetorical. It should not saddle CBN with any social and political problems. It should be such that would courage probity, accountability and be self regulatory.
At New Nigeria Bank, a source told The Republic that such an exercise will enable CBN track down foreign exchange saboteurs without any external interference. The federal government the NNB official said it really out to deregulate economic forces and that is good for Nigeria.
A staffer of one of the leading insurance companies in the country said that the decision is a welcome one as it will pave way for free flow of information between the CBN and the public. This is unlike now when such information are hoarded with the excuse that officials are civil servants who are on regular oath not to disclose information to the public.
The president, General Ibrahim Babangida had in his independence broadcast to the nation hinted the federal government’s intention to re-organise and give the CBN autonomy.
According to the president, for a country like Nigeria which is undergoing a profound and delicate structural adjustment process, it is of great importance to integrate economic and financial policies as an integral part of our policy strategy.
Continuing the president said, “moreover, in view of the increasing significance of monetary policy instruments and the need to ensure the professional integrity and operational independence of the monetary authority, it is equally necessary to ensure that the Central Bank be seen, especially by the financial autonomous within the economic and financial system.
The president further said, I wish to assure you that the system is soon be revamped and re-organised ii order to eliminate duplication of efforts and to ensure greater policy cohesion and operational efficiency. These and other institutional reforms which shall involve the entire bureaucracy will soon be put in place shortly.
