Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has countered Fitch’s report which says the repeated financing of the Federal Government’s budget deficit by the Central Bank through ‘Ways and Means’ is a risk to Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability.

Emefiele on Tuesday in a press briefing justified that “If government cannot finance all its obligations, the central bank should offer support as a lender of last resort.”

He further explained that “It is unfair and very unfortunate that Fitch, which is known to be a first-class company, would hold such views on what we are doing.”

He blasted Fitch Ratings for warning that central-bank financing jeopardizes the ability of authorities to tame inflation that hit a three-year high in December.

According to Fitch, the Central bank financing of the Nigerian government has tripled since 2015.

The governor’s comments appeared to contradict the position of Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, who earlier this month said the government plans to limit the use of central-bank financing to cover a widening fiscal deficit.

Emefiele and Ahmed vowed to eliminate reserve-bank lending by 2025 in a letter of intent to the IMF before the release of $3.4 billion in emergency financing in April.

Deficit monetisation has helped fuel inflation and weaken the naira, which the government has also vowed to allow to float more freely.

The IMF and World Bank have said central-bank financing undermines confidence and hampers long-term investment.