The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso has said he will prioritize exchange rate and price stability in 2024, with a view to promoting sustainable economic growth and safeguarding livelihoods in Nigeria. He made this disclosure in the November 2023 edition of the CBN Update.
According to the CBN, the bank had evaluated the performance of the CBN in the past two months, with respect to the effectiveness of the Central Bank’s monetary policy tools and had spent time fixing the transmission mechanism to ensure the decisions of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings actually resulted in desired objectives.
“This is not just a technical objective, but it has real life implications for the well-being of our citizens. Through targeted policies, transparent market operations, and coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities, we can ensure a more stable exchange rate, control inflation, and create an enabling environment for businesses and individuals to thrive,” Cardoso said.
The CBN boss said his meeting with business owners who were involved in international trade painted the picture of the difficulties they experienced while sourcing foreign exchange in the country, leading to uncertainties and unexpected costs, promising to resume the traditional role of serving as catalyst for economic growth and stability.
“Our catalytic role will support increased investment and private sector participation in the economy, improve access to finance for MSMEs, and enhance financial services for the underbanked. This includes promoting specialized institutions and financial products to support emerging sectors, developing regulatory frameworks to unlock dormant capital in land and property holdings, facilitating accelerated access to consumer credit and expanding financial inclusion to reach the masses,” he added.
He also enjoined the general public to embrace alternative means of payment as this will promote sound financial system stability and restore confidence in the financial system. He urged the public to guard against panic withdrawals which resulted in the intermittent cash scarcity being experienced in some parts of the country. Cardoso also dispelled the rumours making the rounds that the CBN will soon redenominate the naira.
“The Bank has once again assured that there is currently no plan to restructure and redenominate the Naira. Whilst the Bank may be considering reforms, such are subject to laid down procedures in line with the provisions of the CBN Act, 2007, the CBN will however not relent on its mandate to ensure a sound financial system in the nation as enshrined in the CBN Act, 2007. The public is hereby advised to ignore the news report, as it is speculative and calculated to cause panic in the polity,” CBN stated.
