Facts have emerged that the January 1, 2015 take-off date for the use of a single currency under the West African Monetary Zone is no longer realizable.

The development was confirmed on Wednesday by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, during the opening session of the 31st meeting of the Committee of Governors of the Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone.

The six countries that made up the WAMZ are Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone Gambia, Ghana and Guinea.

The single currency-Eco was first planned to be introduced in 2003, but this was postponed several times, to 2005, 2010 and 2014.

At a meeting of the Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors of West Africa on May 25, 2009 the start of the currency was rescheduled to 2015 due to the international economic crisis.

Emefiele said, “The launch of the monetary union by January 2015 is unlikely at this time. Despite this disappointing update, we need to use the new period created by this to redouble our efforts towards the final realisation of this objective.

“In this regard, there is need for the intensification of efforts toward meeting the laid down convergence criteria in sensitisation of all stakeholders in the ratification of various WAMZ protocol and in their consequence its implementation.”

The inability of some of the countries to meet up with the criteria had made the ECOWAS authority of Head of State and Government to approve the reduction of the macroeconomic convergence criteria from 11 criteria (four primary and seven secondary criteria) to six criteria (three primary and three secondary criteria).

The three primary criteria that would now be used are a budget deficit of not more than three per cent; average annual inflation of less than ten per cent with a long term goal of not more than five per cent by 2019; and a gross reserves that could finance at least three months of imports.

The three secondary convergence criteria that have now been adopted by the ECOWAS authority are public debt/Gross Domestic Product of not more than 70 per cent; central bank financing of budget deficit should not be more than ten per cent of previous year’s tax revenue; and nominal exchange rate variation of plus or minus 10 per cent.

But Emefiele, who was also named as the new Chairman of WAMZ explained that over the years, the appraisals have continued to show that the level of macroeconomic convergence in the zone remained inadequate relative to the set targets.

For instance, he said “Since 2009, no two countries satisfied all the four primary convergence criteria consistently for two consecutive years.

“Accordingly, we have missed several launch dates for the monetary union. This may have informed the decision of the Heads of State and Government to approve the Modified Gradualist Approach to monetary integration by 2020.”

He said as a result of this development, the role of the group, therefore, is to honestly appraise the directive of ECOWAS head of state and government and design strategies to ensure a sustainable monetary union in the zone.

He said, “In doing this, we may have to think outside the box, realistically assessing and providing innovative options as well as the costs and benefits of implementing the MGA.

“Our efforts should also continue to focus on effective co-ordination between fiscal and monetary policies to support our price stability mandate, as well as create the appropriate macroeconomic environment conducive for intra-regional trade and economic development in the Zone.”

Speaking on the status of member sates as regards compliance with the macroeconomic convergence criteria the Director-General, West African Monetary Institute, Dr Abwaku Englama, said Nigeria had been the only country that met all the four primary criteria.

He said while Liberia and Sierra Leone satisfied three each, Gambia, Ghana and Guinea met only two criteria each.

“Inflation and fiscal deficit continued to be the more challenging criteria for member states to comply with, while central bank financing and gross external reserves were the more frequently satisfied criteria,” he said.