By UDEME CLEMENT

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam  Sanusi Lamido, has said that the various banking sector reforms adopted in Nigeria have yielded positive results as the reforms  were carried out without depositors losing their money.

He said this while giving his opening remarks, at the regional conference on ‘Post economic reforms, implications for sustained economic development in ECOWAS’, organised by West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), in Abuja .

Sanusi explained that all Nigerian banks have been fully recapitalised and relative stability has been restored to the financial system. “No bank has been allowed to fail so far. We have articulated and adopted various legal, institutional and governance measures, with the resolute passion, to put the financial system on the path of long term stability and efficiency.  I hope it will provide useful lessons for other African countries, including countries in the European Union currently facing severe financial crisis”, he said.

CBN Governor,Lamido Sanusi

He added, “at this time, we must as a region, be prepared for the likely consequences or spill over of the Euro zone crisis on our economies and financial systems. As you are aware in many EU countries, spill over risks from the financial and economic woes in the Euro area periphery have intensified and with weakened growth and sluggish transition from public to private demand in the United States, there are concerns about upsurge in financial volatility brought about by developments in Euro area and the weak strength of the global economy.

The positive outlook however, is that in sub-Saharan Africa, many countries are gaining momentum with solid macroeconomic performance that even surpasses the pre-crisis averages. The current global slowdown has not significantly affected the region thus far, though downward risks have risen”.

The CBN boss pointed out that Africa is largely shielded from the global financial crisis because of its limited integration to the global economy and the international financial system. While the humanitarian crisis in East Africa poses further threats to many African countries, average growth rate for most economies in the region are projected at six per cent on the back of strong domestic demand and accelerating exports.

The CBN has, in recent times, adopted monetary tightening measures in order to curtail inflationary pressures and sustain financial stability. In September 2011, the monetary policy rate was increased by 50 basis points to 9.25 per cent while the cash reserve requirement for the banks was at 4 per cent.

Also speaking, director general, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, said, “since the great depression of the 1930s, there have been and will always be recurrent crisis in all countries characterised by the capitalist mode of development – typical booms and bursts inherent in such economies.

“The effect of the global financial and economic crisis of 2006-2008 was devastating. Though the crisis emanated from the developed economy of the USA due partly to the collapse of the credit and mortgage sub-sector, countries in our sub-region felt the impact of the crisis in various forms.”

He added, “Consequently, our policy-makers formulated and implemented various reforms to cushion the negative effects of the crisis. These reforms were undertaken within the context of strong macroeconomic performance of almost all countries in the sub-region.

“Global economic recovery has been sluggish as projected by known and credible agencies. While the recovery process is on, it appears another downturn is imminent given the debt crisis in European countries such as Greece , Portugal , Spain and France ”.