The Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS) has advised the government to increase private sector partnerships to attract more foreign direct investment to address foreign exchange (forex) issues.
Prof. Anthony Kila, the Director of the Centre, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
According to Kila, monetary policies alone can not solve problems of Naira volatility.
He said, “Monetary policies make only one part of the wheel that can drive Nigeria’s economic stability and growth.
“The other major wheel is fiscal policies, to ensure production and creation of wealth as well as laws and human capital development.”
Kila explained that the problem with foreign exchange was excess demand and insufficient generation.
To navigate out of the problem, he said Nigeria needed to identify and tackle the components that mount pressure on the demand for forex.
He advised the government to check forex spending and encourage local production and consumption while adopting short-term measures to conserve foreign exchange from education, health, tourism, and other sectors.
“We can decide to give credit to those who buy Nigerian cars and other items. Actions like these will ease the demand, but also important is to grow revenue.
“We need to think of how to draw in more forex through partnerships, privatisation and foreign direct investments.
“I also think we need to rethink remittance from diaspora and reset it in a way that their forex enters Nigeria.
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“We need to deliberate, actively gain, and save forex by reducing what we spend on it,” he suggested.
Kila, a professor of Strategy and Development, said some national assets like NNPC should be listed on the Stock Exchange of London, New York and other countries.
He added that some assets could be placed on lease or sold for foreign exchange generation, while a review mechanism for diaspora remittances remains essential for the availability of dollars in Nigeria. (NAN)
