The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi on Tuesday called on the Central Bank Governors of the D-8 to ensure a comprehensive surveillance of their financial system in order to forestall a re-occurrence of the recent shocks experienced by them in the wake of the global economic crisis.

D-8 is holding series of meetings which will ended by a Summit meeting in Abuja to fashion out strategies on how to manage their economies to promote economic growth and development.

The objective of the meeting according to the apex bank boss was also meant to provide the modalities and mechanisms for economic and financial cooperation among member countries.

This, he noted would help to “deepen and broaden the exchange of ideas among individual countries for more effective policy implementation as well as strengthen cooperation among member states.”

The meeting, he added, would also provide a platform for sharing experiences on the management of economic and financial institutions; boost efforts to support financial stability as well as strengthen cooperation in key areas of responsibility.

The apex bank governor, while declaring open the maiden edition of the D-8 central bank governors’ meeting in Abuja said that the need to strengthen financial surveillance among member states became imperative in order to reduce the impact of the meltdown on their respective economies.

He listed the impact to include erosion of foreign exchange reserves, which led to currency depreciations; increased unemployment; declines in growth rates as well as commodity price shocks.

He said, “You will recall that the recent global financial crisis affected virtually all countries. Developing or emerging countries such as ours experienced shocks. As a consequence, fiscal and monetary authorities in emerging economies had to undertake policy reviews.

“Against this background, it becomes imperatives for D-8 countries to explore common grounds for concerted efforts to harness the potentials and strengths of their respective economies to overcome the economic challenges posed by the global financial and economic crisis.

He adds, “Importantly, it has become necessary to review and adopt the common regulatory regimes to safeguard financial systems stability to forestall a re-occurrence of the recent experience in our various countries.”

Also speaking, the Minister Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga charged the D-8 central bank governors in the area of financial integration. This he noted would enable them to contribute significantly to global trade.

He said, “The area of cooperation by D-8 central banks draw up by the secretariat is very important especially in trade facilitation. As developing countries, we all have a duty to promote trade among ourselves in order to grow our economy at a faster rate than we would ordinarily afford to.

“The statistics shows that the total population of D-8 countries is closed to the population of India and China but our economic performance does not compare with any of them. D-8 countries contribute only about three per cent of world trade, if our central banks deliver low stable prices, competitive and stable real exchange rates; we would be assured that the economic activities will maintain economic values.”

Source: the Punch, D-8 Media.