Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has urged the Presidency to consider selling some of Nigeria's oil assets in a bid to pull the country out of recession.

"In April 2015, even before this government came on board, I had opined that there was a need for the government to scale down or sell off some its investments in oil and gas, particularly in the NNPC and the NLNG, at that time when the price of oil was around $50-$55 per barrel. We actually commissioned some consultants that conducted a study and at the end of that study, we were told that if we sell 10 per cent to 15 per cent of our holding in the oil and gas sector that we could realise up to $40bn.

"Unfortunately, the markets have become soft. If we choose to do that now, we can still get $10bn to $15bn, or maybe $20bn. If we have that kind of liquidity, it will be easy for us to really stimulate spending and also to turn the economy around. That proposal is still on the table, because I have also heard that some of our colleagues in the Federal Executive Council have talked about it and a lot of people too.

"If we take that option, I am optimistic we will be able to stimulate the economy and earn the foreign currency that we can really use to kick-start it."

If this is done, Nigeria could be out of recession by the end of the year he said. Experts however disagree with him. They say it'll be nearly impossible for Nigeria to be out of recession by the end of the year.




Posted by-Abdul (Nigerianbulletin)