Opening Address delivered by Dr. Johnson P. Asiama, 2nd Deputy Governor, at the 2017 Continental Seminar of AACB

Mr. Chairman, with paradigm shifts on monetary policy making in the global economy, it became clear that the direct instruments were not only devoid of market or price signals but also distortionary in the allocation of resources. The prevalence of state-owned banks in Africa at the time further perpetuated such distortions as political directives informed the allocation of financial resources to the economy. Thus, there was the need to move away from the direct control to market-based regimes introduced in the late 1980s under the structural adjustments and financial sector liberalization policies pioneered by the IMF and World Bank.