By Chioma Onuegbu

Uyo—THE Central  Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has reiterated its commitment and determination to achieve 95 percent coverage in financial inclusion in the country planned from 2019 to 2024.

Speaking in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at a one-day interactive programme to sensitise trade union leaders and delegates on the CBN’s 5-year Policy Thrust, Director Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Isaac Okoroafor disclosed that currently,  about 40percent of Nigerians, especially those in rural communities were not enjoying the benefits of financial services.

Okoroafor said: “Now the focus of this sensitisation is on the 5-year plan of the CBN, of 2019 to 2024. The key aspects of the plan include to maintain a single digits inflation, to achieve a double digits economic growth rate, to create 10 million jobs; to increase non oil exports from $2 billion to $12 billion within the next 5-years.

READ ALSO:FCCPC seals Chinese restaurant for refusing to serve Nigerians

“The next one is to achieve 95 percent financial inclusion. There are so many people in the rural areas who do not enjoy the benefits of financial services. As at now, we have about 40 percent of Nigerians who are not enjoying it. So, we want to reduce that percentage to only five and attain up to 95 percent coverage”

“The other one is to grow what we call the National Collateral Registry. Quite often, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, do not have the ability to provide collateral when they want to take a loan. Most women belong to this group, because of that, they are unable to access loan to grow their businesses.

“So we have introduced what we call the National Moveable Assets Registry. What this means is that if you are engaged in hairdressing, for instance, and you have only one dryer,  and a generator, you can register your generator as a moveable asset and use it to borrow loan and grow your business.”

The CBN director, who denied speculations that the CBN banned the importation of certain goods, because it doesn’t have the power to do so, however, insisted that they won’t encourage importation of goods detrimental to Nigeria’s economy.

He maintained that CBN could not use the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which is collectively owned to give importers to create jobs in other countries while many Nigerians  were