ECOWAS single currency Receives Heavy Blow At World Banking Conference
The quest of West African Countries to have a single currency may have been foiled as they were advised to abandon the proposed common currency and rather leverage on digital financial technology to boost trade within the region.
This was contained in a speech delivered by mr Adjiedj Bakas, while delivering a keynote address at the World Conference of Banking Institutes hosted in Lagos yesterday by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
It will be recalled that the launching and take off of the West African single currency, known as ‘Eco’ has been postponed four times, in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2015, due to the inability of the West African countries to comply with all the four primary convergence criteria simultaneously and on sustainable basis.
The convergence criteria include: A single digit inflation rate; fiscal deficit of not more than four per cent; deficit financing not more than 10 per cent of the previous year's tax revenues; and gross external reserves that can give import cover for a minimum of three months.
While speaking on the theme of the conference, “Re-thinking the future of banking and finance and lifelong learning?, the Bankis noted that a single currency is not good for the region given the diversities of the cultures and economies of the countries in the region. He added that single currency idea was no longer expedient in the light of current trends in digital finance and the experience of Europe with the ‘Euro’.
This was contained in a speech delivered by mr Adjiedj Bakas, while delivering a keynote address at the World Conference of Banking Institutes hosted in Lagos yesterday by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
It will be recalled that the launching and take off of the West African single currency, known as ‘Eco’ has been postponed four times, in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2015, due to the inability of the West African countries to comply with all the four primary convergence criteria simultaneously and on sustainable basis.
The convergence criteria include: A single digit inflation rate; fiscal deficit of not more than four per cent; deficit financing not more than 10 per cent of the previous year's tax revenues; and gross external reserves that can give import cover for a minimum of three months.
While speaking on the theme of the conference, “Re-thinking the future of banking and finance and lifelong learning?, the Bankis noted that a single currency is not good for the region given the diversities of the cultures and economies of the countries in the region. He added that single currency idea was no longer expedient in the light of current trends in digital finance and the experience of Europe with the ‘Euro’.
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