Sanusi reads riot act against dollarisation of the economy...

CBN Gov. Sanusi

The Central Bank Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has declared that it is illegal for any Nigerian to insist that payment for a transaction should be in the United States dollars. He spoke in Washington DC, United States at the on-going IMF|World Bank Annual Meeting.
“Anybody that refuses to accept Nigerian naira as the legal tender is committing an offence. Anybody that refuses and says I will not accept naira as a payment is committing an offence.”Sanusi warned.
He argued that there was nowhere in the world where a customer receiving a transfer in foreign currency receives same in his country. According to him, monies sent to beneficiaries are paid in their national currency which is the legal tender.
“The interesting thing about our country (Nigeria) is that we intend to create things and we intend to be an island in the world. If you are in the UK and someone transfers money to you from the United States, in what currency do you get paid in London? Pounds!
“There is nowhere in the world where you got to your bank, because you have a transfer and insist on being paid in that currency. If you are in the UK, you get paid in pounds, if you are in Japan, you get paid in Japanese Yen and if you are in China, you get paid in Yuan. We have this sense of entitlement. The Central Bank did introduce this policy of asking the banks to pay dollars, because there was a time the banks were cheating people. Now we’ve said the exchange rate must be the interbank rate of the date of exchange and the banks are required to display that rate in their banking halls,” he emphasised.
Sanusi continued, “I don’t see how we are going to continue with the policy that is not consistent with global practices and continue importing dollars and basically saying that we don’t have confidence in our own economy.
“Tell me one country in the world that distributes its resources in dollar. Why should Nigeria be the only one? What is the logic? Why are we different? If you go to Ghana, you get paid in Cedi; if you go to the other French region, you get paid in CFA.”
In another development, Sanusi said he has built a legacy in the nation’s banking system that would outlive him when he quits his job as the regulator’s helmsman next year.
Addressing Nigerian journalists yesterday in Washington DC at the on-going International Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting, the CBN boss said he was comfortable that whoever will succeed him would retain the policies and measures the apex bank has put in place.
He said he was more concerned with building an enduring institution than in perpetuating himself in office.
“No individual should consider himself indispensable; an institution is far more important than an individual,” he said and added, “It is part of the strength of a leader to build an institution that believes in your vision.”
He said further that if he is confident enough to quit at the end of his first-term next year, it would be because, he is “comfortable enough” that the policies he initiated will be carried through after his exit.
“Nobody wants his legacy wiped out after he leaves. So if you are comfortable enough to walk away from the job, it’s because you feel you’ve built an institution that has been sufficiently influenced by the thinking and the strategy to continue after you,”he declared.
He argued that the “CBN has established its credibility as being committed to price stability in the system” which he cautioned, “should not be toyed with