Prof. Uche Uwaleke, Professor of Finance and Capital Markets, Nasarawa State University, Keffi said the reappointment of Godwin Emefiele as Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was in the best interest of Nigeria’s economy. Uwaleke said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja. He said he was not surprised that Buhari reappointed Emefiele for another five years as his tenure was successful, especially in the areas of financial stability, inflation and sectoral interventions. “In my opinion, Emefiele has done enough to deserve a reappointment. ” The bank has the mandate of maintaining price stability and it has done well in maintaining exchange rate prices. “Also, you will agree with me that inflation has seriously moderated. Also, the CBN has not done badly in terms of interest rates.

“I believe that the reappointment is also a good signal to the international investors in the areas of policy consistency, which will encourage them to come in and invest more,” he said. Uwaleke said that going forward, he would like Emefiele to focus more on interventions to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). “In his second term, I will like him to ensure that MSMEs have more access to long term credit and the fiscal authority should compliment his efforts. “I also expect him to step up his intervention efforts in the economy, particularly the Anchor Borrowers Programme,” he said.

Emefiele who is the 11th CBN Governor, began his five-year tenure on June 3, 2014. His reappointment makes him the first CBN governor to get a second term. Before his appointment in 2014, Emefiele was the Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc and before that, he lecturerd at the University of Nigeria Nsukka and the University of Port Harcourt.