As part of efforts aimed at developing the country’s payment system, the Central Bank of Nigeria has concluded plans to send seven bills to the National Assembly.

The Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, CBN, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, confirmed the development on Tuesday in Abuja at a national stakeholders’ workshop on secured lending.

He said the move would help improve the country’s payment system, enhance financial inclusion as well as unleash both infrastructure financing and the long awaited housing revolution.

The development, according to Barau, will also fast track the apex bank’s objective of making Nigeria’s financial system the fastest growing among emerging markets by 2020 as well as making the country Africa’s financial hub.

The bills include the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Amendment Bill; Mortgage Incentives Bill; Payments Modernisation Bill; and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria Bill

Others are the Securitisation Bill, Leasing Bill and Warehousing Receipts Financing Bill.

The bills, according to Barau, have already been reviewed by the apex bank’s Legal Implementation Committee of the Financial System Strategy 2020, and are ready for public review.

Apart from the seven bills, Barau said that four other bills were currently before the National Assembly and awaiting passage.

They are the Electronic Transaction Bill, Financial Ombudsman Bill, Alternative Dispute Resolution Bill and the Nigerian International Financial Centre Bill.

He explained that the essence of the workshop was to take a collective look at the pending bills especially securitisation, mortgages, secured interest and collaterals in order to design a framework towards sending them to the National Assembly.

Source:Punch/ Ifeanyi Onuba