President Muhammadu Buhari has said monetary policy instruments alone cannot stimulate economic growth judging from the plethora of economic challenges in the country.

The president stated this on Thursday while speaking at the opening session of the 2016 annual meeting of the Association of African Central Banks.

The event which had the theme “Unwinding Unconventional Monetary Policies: Implications for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability in Africa”, was held at the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Buhari tasked policy makers to come with innovative solutions to address economic problems in African countries.

He said, “The region is confronted with several global and domestic economic challenges. Most worrisome is the slowdown in growth; weakening global demand; rising inflation; restrictions in capital flows; rising debt levels; increased exchange rate volatility and depleting external reserves.

“Those of us who rely on only natural resources such as Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, and Mozambique have been hit the hardest.

“Faced with these challenges, African Central Banks have been at their best in keeping African economies afloat through proactive and effective combination of conventional and innovative monetary policies.

“We fully understand that monetary policy alone is not sufficient to bring about desired economic growth. We must carefully balance monetary and fiscal policy measures.”

Azeez