The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has reiterated the need for long-term infrastructure financing, available at low-cost for the development of the Nigerian economy.

A statement from the Head, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Mohammed Abdullahi, revealed that Sanusi made this remark on Monday, at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he was the guest lecturer at the annual Sir Patrick Gillam Lecture Series.

In his presentation titled: “The Global Crisis and the Nigerian Economy: The Central Bank of Nigeria Responses”, the CBN governor noted that the economy was still plagued by some daunting challenges despite the robust economic growth.

According to him, these challenges had slowed down the transmission of such growth indices to higher employment opportunities.

Sanusi explained: “The link between major growth drivers, particularly agriculture and manufacturing, continue to be weak and the required costs of the expected infrastructural needs of the economy are daunting and remained a major challenge to financial sector. The need for a low-cost long-term infrastructure financing requires more than the CBN alone can tackle.

“While the primary goal of a central bank should be price stability, in the context of developing economies, the central bank should also emphasize on its developmental roles in order to support positive economic transformation and rapid growth.”

According to him, substantial progress had been made in the development of the economy, even as he argued that significant public confidence had been restored to the banking sector with the reform measures adopted by the CBN.
The lecture series was said to have treated a range of contemporary economic issues of global concern, with prominent academic specialists and policy makers speaking before audiences of LSE staff and students as well as interested members of the public, including journalists, bankers, businessmen, and representatives of various governments, multi lateral institutions, and non-governmental organisations.

The statement explained that the lecture was delivered at the instance of the Director, LSE, Professor Judith Rees, marking the annual Sir Patrick Gillam Lecture Series, which had been running since 2005 under the joint auspices of the LSE and Standard Chartered Bank. Sir Patrick Gillam, was a prominent and active LSE alumnus, a former Chairman of the bank and a professorial chair at the School.

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