PRESIDENT BUHARI CAUTIONS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ECOWAS SINGLE CURRENCY
PRESIDENT BUHARI
CAUTIONS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ECOWAS SINGLE CURRENCY
President Muhamadu Buhari Tuesday in
Niamey, Niger, urged ECOWAS member countries to tread carefully in pushing for
a single currency in the sub-region by 2020, drawing attention to the
challenges faced by the European Union in realising the same goal.
In his speech at the 4th Meeting
of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Currency Programme, President
Buhari said the necessary economic fundamentals among countries continue to
differ over the years, making it more difficult to pull through with the
project by 2020.
“Nigeria advises that we proceed
cautiously with the integration agenda, taking into consideration the above
concerns and the lessons currently unfolding in the European Union. To that
end, Nigeria will caution against any position that pushes for a fast-track
approach to monetary union, while neglecting fundamentals and other pertinent
issues,’’ he said.
President Buhari noted that some of
the obstacles to realising the roadmap for the implementation of a single
currency include diverse and uncertain macro – economic fundamentals of many
countries, unrealistic inflation targeting based on flexible exchange rate
regime and inconsistency with the African Monetary Co-operation Programme.
The President said domestic issues in
ECOWAS member countries relating to their constitutions and dependence on aids
continue to affect the framework for implementing the single currency in the
sub-region
He said “although the ECOWAS
Commission has anchored its pursuit of the new impetus to monetary integration
on “the information presented to the Heads of State which were the basis for
their recommendations”, we are concerned that we have not properly articulated
and analyzed a comprehensive picture of the state of preparedness of individual
countries for monetary integration in ECOWAS by 2020.
“In previous meetings, we had
specifically raised observations on the state of preparedness of the member
states, the credibility of the union if anchored on watered down criteria, and
the continuing disparities between macroeconomic conditions in ECOWAS
countries, amongst others. And I would like to reiterate this concerns.’’
The President told the Heads of State
that the conditions that pushed Nigeria into withdrawing from the process in
the past had not changed.
“Nigeria had earlier withdrawn from
the process because its key questions and concerns were ignored and till date,
none of the issues has come up as an agenda issue to be considered by the
Taskforce. Consequently, the Roadmap which did not involve widespread
consultation with national stakeholders is not sufficiently inclusive,’’ he
added.
Going forward with the project,
President Buhari suggested a thorough review of the convergence roadmap and the
constitution of an expert committee on each of the subject areas to come up
with acceptable time frame, defined cost and funding sources identified.
“This should also consider
stakeholders such as the Ministries of Finance, Customs, Parliamentary groups,
Tax Authorities, Immigration authorities to achieve comprehensiveness,’’ he
said.
The President said there should be a
push towards ratification and domestication of legal instruments and related
protocols, while fiscal, trade and monetary policies and statistical systems,
which had not gone far, could be harmonized.
President Buhari noted that the West
African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) countries should make a
presentation on a clear roadmap towards delinking from the French Treasury.
He also advised an examination of the
African Union position on the same issue, which the African Central Bank
Governors, in line with the African Union programme of monetary convergence,
recommended a convergence deadline of 2034 for the establishment of Regional
Central Banks in all sub-regions.
In his remarks, the President of the
ECOWAS Commission, Marcel Alain de Souza, said the single currency for the West
African sub-region was a laudable and historical project, but regretted that it
had taken too long to be actualized.
The President said the creation of a
Central Bank for the West Coast would accelerate the process.
He noted that Nigeria constitutes
more than 70 percent of the GDP of the West African region, with a population
of 180 million, and would play a significant role in facilitating the process
of realising a single currency for the sub-region.
