The Committee of Governors of Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone WAMZ yesterday held its 26th meeting at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown against what the Committee described as the challenging global economic situation. Such a slowdown in growth it said “would affect both developed and emerging countries”.
Despite the downward pull in global economic growth, from 5% in 2010 to 4% in 2011 and what it also described as the “exceptional crises” experienced by some ECOWAS countries like Cote d’Ivoire, the region it went on is “expected to record a growth rate that is above the African average of 6.4%”. It is also worth mentioning that the sub region as stated by WAMZ experienced in 2011 “slight decline” in inflation, “moderate” rise in commodity prices and a decline in deficit from 4.4% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2011.
In his opening remarks, the Governor of the Central Bank of Guinea Lounceny Nabe, and outgoing chair of the Governors Committee re-echoed the constrains faced by the region as the result of the current global economic problems. He singled out the Euro Zone crisis which he said poses economic uncertainties if member countries do not implement sustainable growth driven economic and stringent fiscal policies geared towards mitigating the effects of the crisis and the global economic “meltdown” on the region.
The Director General of West African Monetary Agency charged with leading the zone towards single currency by 2015 on his part, reminded Governors that the date is closing on the zone. “We have delivered where it matters” he said, adding that “there are still mountains to climb” if the zone is to achieve monetary union on or before 2015. Without “economic convergence, we would face similar problems facing the Euro Zone” he warned. He advocated for a “strong legal” backing to regulate the monetary union.
Delivering his keynote address Governor Bank of Sierra Leone Sheku S. Sesay stated he felt “reassured by the strong show of Governors” at this meet furthering that “it is a clear manifestation of their individual and collective commitment to our shared vision of a monetary union and single currency” in the WAMZ. He reaffirmed Sierra Leone’s commitment to both the monetary and single currency objective and the ECOWAS Monetary Cooperation programme.
Summing up the reason behind yesterday’s meet Sheku Sesay said “we are meeting here today to evaluate progress that has been made so far, towards the Convergence Programme by each member state and to chart the way forward”. He reminded his colleague Governors that the task ahead of them “is enormous”. He urged them to “examine strategies” directed at addressing “fiscal deficits”, promote fiscal sustainability and unemployment in the sub region. He advised Governors to “adopt” effective expenditure rationalization and non-inflationary methods of financing development projects.
In what was termed as WAMZ “democracy”, the Central Bank Governor of Sierra Leone Sheku S. Sesay was “unanimously elected” as Chairman of the WAMZ Committee of Governors.
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