The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday confirmed plans by the Federal Government to privatise its four refineries in 2014.

According to the bank, the plan was in line with the government’s drive to transform the nation’s economy rapidly in the next five years.

The Deputy Governor, Financial Systems Stability, CBN, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, said the Nigerian economy would receive a massive boost when the transformations in power, agricultural and oil and gas sectors were completed.

He spoke at a meeting with heads of Deposit Money Banks organised by the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday in Abuja.

Moghalu said, “The economic transformation of this country is gradually becoming a reality. I have said that I see a very different Nigeria in five years with the way we are going and with the transformations that are taking place in several aspects of the economy.

“Agriculture is one, power sector is another, and the move to get private investors take over refineries makes me believe that we are going to reposition Nigeria’s economy to be one that is actually based on real production and not wasting asset that is in oil.”

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, had earlier this week hinted that the Federal Government had plans to begin the privatisation of four of its state-owned refineries before the end of the first quarter of 2014.