A lawyer and economic analyst,  Mr Eze Onyekpere, has  said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) required autonomy to discharge its duties more effectively.
Onyekpere made the statement during an interview with newsmen last Monday in Abuja on the expectations for the new CBN governor.
According to him, the new governor must seek ways to re-assure the executive and legislative arms of government on the need to maintain the independence of the CBN.
“He has to co-opt stakeholders to facilitate the maintenance of the status quo in the extant CBN Act and the CBN needs this autonomy to effectively discharge its functions.
“We expect greater transparency and accountability in the management of the funds and policies of the CBN.
“There must also be clear policy implementation pathways that are not based on the rule of the thumb of the new governor,” he said.
Onyekpere said the challenge of growing the Nigerian economy in terms of ensuring a reasonable lending rate had been abandoned by the previous leadership and it needed to be revisited.
He said the CBN’s focus should be on maintaining single digit lending rate and ensuring that deposit rates encouraged the people to save.
“The need to control inflation and retain the extant single digit inflation rate is imperative and the CBN needs to continue measures to control excess liquidity in the system.
“The fact that investors and producers borrow at very high uncompetitive rates cannot allow the economy to grow; it cannot facilitate job  creation, enhance value addition nor improve efficiencies and grow the capacity utilisation rate of industry.
“The target should be to attain single digit lending rate and deposit rates should be made to encourage savings,” he said.
Onyekpere explained that in as much as the CBN had adopted an exchange rate band over the years, it might be imperative to try some other innovation provided by some experts.
“In order to boost the value of the naira against major international currencies, it may require the avoidance of the creation of new money.
“This would imply the direct allocation of foreign exchange earned from oil to the three tiers of government rather than monetising it.
“The former CBN Governor, Charles Soludo, attempted to implement the idea but was stopped by the authorities.
“Experts have noted that this would bring inflation to as low as three per cent, rein in excess liquidity and guarantee single digit prime lending rate,” Onyekpere said.
Onyekpere said the implementation of these, would essentially guarantee monetary and price stability, swell external reserves and improve access to credit by the real sector.
He said it was important for the incoming CBN governor to continue to support the Mortgage Refinance Company to help boost the availability of affordable housing in Nigeria.