The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi,  has said  that the development of the real sector of the economy was key to ensuring growth and development as he pledged the apex bank’s  commitment to the provision of a safe, stable and sound financial system in line with its mandate. He tasked other sectors to develop complimentary reforms to support those of the banking industry as the economy remained largely dependent on banks.

According to him, building a strong, virile real economy remained not just a necessary, but also a sufficient condition to guarantee banking sector stability, adding that although Nigeria had achieved some measure of stability as had been endorsed by the Article 4 Consultation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), there was a compelling need to invest in the real sector of the economy.  Sanusi, pointed out that the on-going initiatives within the banking industry have significantly improved the state of the economy, adding that the apex bank had been partnering with states and organizations through Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) to provide solutions to the unemployment problem. He stated that the intervention of the CBN in the critical sectors of the economy was impacting positively on the power and agricultural sector.

Such sectors, he disclosed, included infrastructure, light manufacturers, such as textile, footwear industries, agriculture value-chain and others, saying that with a population of over 167 million people, Nigeria possessed the needed relatively cheap labour and abundant raw materials required for such industries