The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has called upon active partnerships of the public and private sector to manage the health and economic downturn tormenting the country and the world as a whole
Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor, noted that the nation’s economy is currently affected by triple shocks of supply, demand and revenue driven primarily by the drastic fall in crude oil prices between January and May.
He pointed out that effective private sector collaboration with federal and state governments is necessary to sustain the lives of the people and restore economic activities back to normalcy.
In addition, Emefiele urged Nigerian scientists at home and on foreign soil to develop a drug for the treatment of coronavirus, saying the ability to restore economic growth is dependent on how the nation addresses the health crisis instigated by the pandemic.
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“COVID-19 has had an unprecedented effect on the global economy, impacting all nations big and small. Institutions like the IMF have pronounced that the effect on the global economy will be akin to the slowdown experienced during the great depression of the 1930s.
“Global growth is expected to contract to three percent in 2020, down from a positive growth rate of 2.9 percent in 2019, which is effectively a 6 percent contraction. In Nigeria, our economy is exposed to triple shocks – a supply shock, a demand shock and a revenue shock.
“Permit me to state that we are currently faced with a public health and economic crisis of unprecedented proportions, driven primarily by the 55 per cent drop in crude oil prices between January and May 2020.”
Emefiele said that the absence of accurately projecting the degree to which the coronavirus could spread, and how long it would last, requires that Nigeria must establish sufficient capacity within the health system to contain the spread of the COVID-19, and preserve the lives of vulnerable Nigerians.
Therefore, Emefiele challenged indigenous scientists at home and in the Diaspora to develop a Nigerian vaccine for coronavirus. He also added that the CBN is developing a strategy under which grants and long-term facilities will be provided to researchers, science institutions and biotechnology firms to develop the Nigerian vaccine.
Emefiele also added that once the vaccine is validated by the health agencies, the CBN will step in and do its part, saying: “Our objective is to improve the capacity of our health system to address emerging public health challenges.
“This requires that we all come together to support the work of the presidential task force in its determination to save lives and stem the pandemic.
“It is in this regard that I would like to commend the Nigerian private sector, who have come together under the Coalition against COVID-19 (CA-COVID), to support the government, by raising funds to procure needed Isolation Centres, medical equipment among others.
“So far, the CA-COVID-19 has raised up to N27billion to fund these initiatives. These donations are being used to build well equipped isolation centres across the 36 states of the federation,” he added.
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