West African Monetary
Zone Exploring New Options
Rebecca Mu’azu, Ghana.
Four
options are now before the West African Monetary Institute, to
finalise the adoption of a single regional currency by the Year
2015.
The Director General of the institute, Mr. Temitope Oshikoya,
told Voice of Nigeria in Accra, at the 28th Meeting of the
Technical Committee of West African Monetary Zone, WAMZ, that
the options would assist the region achieve economic
convergence.
He also stated that macroeconomic convergence performance of the
West African Monetary Zone countries weakened the economy of
most West African states during the first two quarters of 2009.
According to him, this was due to the effect of the global
financial crisis, which resulted in the decline in export
earnings, tax from international trade, remittances and
portfolio investment.
He said that the regional monetary institute was trying to
explore partnership and collaboration with international
financial institutions, to support efforts on the renewed
mandate of the institution.
The West African Monetary Institute’s meeting is a prelude to
the West African Monetary Zone Meeting, which is deliberating on
the
steps towards achieving a common currency in West Africa, by
the Year 2015.
The technical committee of WAMZ is particularly reviewing the
extent to which the five member countries have gone in achieving
the set benchmarks for their currencies’ convergence.
Qasim/Yinka
