Tinubu Advises Buhari To Print More Naira Notes To Caution Economic Effect Of Coronavirus
LAGOS MARCH 29TH (NEWSRANGERS)-All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, has asked the Federal Government to print more naira notes in order to save the economy from collapse even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to bite harder.
Tinubu said this in a statement he wrote in commemoration of his 68th birthday.
The former governor of Lagos State said the United States Federal Reserve had printed more dollars in order to boost the economy.
He said Nigeria could also do the same.
Tinubu added, “Already, the price of oil has fallen to less than 30 dollars a barrel. This will bring a dollar shortfall. This does not, however, necessitate a corresponding shortfall in public sector naira expenditures.
“The US controls dollar issuance. We control naira issuance as is our sovereign right. Just as America has used its sovereign right to issue its currency to stave economic disaster, so too may Nigeria issue naira for the same purpose.
“While individuals, companies and even state governments can go bankrupt during hard times, the federal government cannot become naira insolvent because it has the ability to issue our national currency.
“He who holds the printing press is never insolvent. The most serious concern and limitation on federal naira spending is not insolvency but inflation.
“Consequently, should circumstances require increased spending, we should not hesitate to do so; but we must keep the watchful eye to ensure inflation does not climb too high. However to save both lives and livelihoods during a moment of historic emergency, a touch of extra inflation from enhanced government spending is a small price to pay. In fact, it is a price that must be paid. The alternative may be a harmful deflation which historically has proven more difficult to tame and cure than a small inflationary increase.”
Short URL: http://newsrangers.com/?p=46530