![\"President](\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/media.premiumtimesng.com\/wp-content\/files\/2017\/10\/22687741_702126003311465_1560190674664328178_n.jpg?fit=860%2C573&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By Premium Times October 24 2017.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Niamey, Niger, urged ECOWAS member countries to tread carefully in pushing for a single currency in the sub-region by 2020, drawing attention to the challenges faced by the European Union in realising the same goal.<\/p>\n
In his speech at the 4th Meeting of the Presidential Task Force on the ECOWAS Currency Programme, President Buhari said the necessary economic fundamentals among countries continue to differ over the years, making it more difficult to pull through with the project by 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria advises that we proceed cautiously with the integration agenda, taking into consideration the above concerns and the lessons currently unfolding in the European Union. To that end, Nigeria will caution against any position that pushes for a fast-track approach to monetary union, while neglecting fundamentals and other pertinent issues,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
President Buhari noted that some of the obstacles to realising the roadmap for the implementation of a single currency include diverse and uncertain macro-economic fundamentals of many countries, unrealistic inflation targeting based on flexible exchange rate regime and inconsistency with the African Monetary Co-operation Programme.<\/p>\n
The president said domestic issues in ECOWAS member countries relating to their constitutions and dependence on aid continue to affect the framework for implementing the single currency in the sub-region.<\/p>\n
He said \u201calthough the ECOWAS Commission has anchored its pursuit of the new impetus to monetary integration on \u201cthe information presented to the Heads of State which were the basis for their recommendations\u201d, we are concerned that we have not properly articulated and analysed a comprehensive picture of the state of preparedness of individual countries for monetary integration in ECOWAS by 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn previous meetings, we had specifically raised observations on the state of preparedness of the member states, the credibility of the union if anchored on watered down criteria, and the continuing disparities between macroeconomic conditions in ECOWAS countries, amongst others. And I would like to reiterate this concerns.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The president told the Heads of State that the conditions that pushed Nigeria into withdrawing from the process in the past had not changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria had earlier withdrawn from the process because its key questions and concerns were ignored and till date, none of the issues has come up as an agenda issue to be considered by the Taskforce. Consequently, the Roadmap which did not involve widespread consultation with national stakeholders is not sufficiently inclusive,\u2019\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Premium Times October 24 2017. President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Niamey, Niger, urged ECOWAS member countries to tread carefully in pushing for a single currency in the sub-region by 2020, drawing attention to the challenges faced by the European Union in realising the same goal. In his speech at the 4th Meeting of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n