Construction of an ultramodern complex at Port Harcourt branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN was necessitaed by an urgent need to provide state of the art building infrastructure that would enable CBN carry out its banking, regulatory and developmental functions to cope with increased volume of banking activities in Rivers State.

President Goodluck Jonathan who stated this Friday, at the commissioning ceremony of the new CBN complex in Port Harcourt said the initiative was a fallout of the bank’s deliberate policy of renovating and updating its facilities.

The president who was represented at the occasion by the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated that, “a work place must not only be worker-friendly and conducive but must equally be vistors or other users friendly and conducive.”

He expressed satisfaction over the bank’s effort in providing good infrastructural facilities for its operation and also commended various reforms undertaken in the banking sector in the last few years. He noted that such bold initiatives have restored tremendous confidence in the nation’s banking system.

“Initiatives of the bank in the real sectors of the economy and their salutary effects are in tandem with my government’s Transformation Agenda, a major plank of which is to make Nigeria the preferred investment destination in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Mr President.

Other concerted efforts of the bank including its shared services initiative in the banking sector, he remarked, were aimed at reducing banks overheads and thus reduce lending cost and other banking charges as the industry gears up to enhance lending to the real sectors of the economy to power rapid growth in the years ahead.

President Jonathan particularly commended CBN for its roles in the economy saying they have been very remarkable and totally in consonance with and supportive of the policies of his administration.

In his own address, the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi stated that Port Harcourt branch of the bank which was established on October 17, 1964 was second after Central Bank of Nigeria, Lagos and noted that the branch was strategic because of the geographical position of this part of the Eastern Region, as a sea port and hub of economic and financial activities.

The CBN Governor explained that the old building constructed in the early 60’s was in capacity, facilities, vault size and aestatic value no longer in sync with the public infrastructure provided by the host State Government.

Sanusi maintained that CBN was determined to constantly monitor the banking system to ensure that it remains robust and competitive while providing financial intermediation that would propel economic growth and development.

Sanusi who used the occasion to highlight some of the bank’s policy initiatives, explained that the recent initiative on less cash in transaction policy billed to commence June next year is aimed at addressing the currency management challenges in the country as well as enhancing the national payments system.

“The Nigerian economy is heavily cash-oriented in the transaction of goods and services. The huge cash transaction increases the operational costs of the banking sector which is passed down to the customers in the form of high service charges and high lending rates,” he explained.

Chris Oluoh