The former governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has proposed a “quantitative easing” methodology for the Nigerian government to adopt in case the coronavirus pandemic threatens the nation’s economy.
The APC National Leader highlighted this in his 68-year-old birthday message titled “A MESSAGE ON THE CORONAVIRUS: A TIME FOR UNITY, A TIME FOR THOUGHT, A TIME FOR ACTION”.
Tinubu who made the “Quantitative Easing” proposal sixth on the list of his “preliminary thoughts on the economic action we might take should the coronavirus mortally threaten our economy” stated that; “The Central Bank should be prepared to enact extraordinary measures should the financial sector exhibit stress.
“The CBN should be prepared to give banks liberal access to its loan discount window to ensure adequate liquidity within the banking sector. The Cash Reserve Requirement for banks should be revised downward.
“Also to ensure liquidity, the CBN should be willing to expand its balance sheet and improve liquidity by purchasing government bonds and other instruments held by banks and other institutions.
“The Nigerian stock market is falling. CBN and others should be planning how they might intervene to prevent a potential run on the stock market. Potential measures include expanding Quantitative Easing to enable the Central Bank to purchase strategically important instruments trading in the stock market and instituting a moratorium on margin calls.”
For the past eleven years, the former Lagos governor had a colloquium held on his birthday, where some of the best minds in both the public and private sectors gather to meditate and explore solutions to issues confronting the nation.
The event was postponed due to the social distancing prevention recommendation by health experts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“…the threat of the coronavirus obligated colloquium organizers to postpone the event; we did not want a large number of people gathered in a relatively compact physical space. This was a decision well taken.” Tinubu noted.
Tinubu said he instead offered his remarks in the birthday message “in hope they contribute to halting the spread and ill consequences of this dreadful sickness.”
