A financial expert,  Mr Eddie Osarenkhoe, on Monday advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to map out aggressive measures to restore  investors’ confidence in the banking sector. Osarenkhoe, the immediate past President of Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said that the step was necessary to ensure stability in the banking sector. According to him, the financial sector has been over-heated by the recent financial crisis and needs urgent attention to achieve sustainable growth.

Osarenkhoe said that there should be proper regulation and control of the sector, stressing that all policies should be adhered to by all the operators. “The CBN also needs to monitor and constantly supervise how loans are being disbursed in the banking sector,” he said.

Osarenkhoe said that a situation where bank directors gave loans to customers without collaterals was over. He said that there should checks and balances on loans disbursement to customers. The expert also advised the apex bank to encourage the banks to expand their loans to the real sector to boost the economy.

“This will boost employment generation and reduces dependency ratio in the country,” he said. Osarenkhoe advised the CBN to do more in educating Nigerians on the advantages of its cashless policy.

CITN advises Nigerians to support FG’s transformational agenda

President of Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, CITN, Mr Sunday Jegede, has urged Nigerians to support the transformation agenda of the Federal Government. He gave the advice in Lagos while commenting on government’s proposal to borrow N1.3 trillion ($7.905 billion) to implement some projects. Jegede said that there was nothing wrong with government borrowing, if it would enhance the government’s agenda.

President Goodluck Jonathan had sent separate letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives requesting approval to borrow the amount from six foreign financial institutions. The institutions are the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Exim Banks of China and India. The loan, according to Jonathan, is to fund some pipeline projects as captured in the 2012 – 2014 External Borrowing Plan.