The CBN Governor, Dr. Yemi Cardoso has vowed to return the bank to evidence-based monetary policy status in order to restore stakeholders’ confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.
Cardoso stated this on the sidelines of the ongoing World Bank Annual meetings in Morocco.
According to him, there is an urgent need for “Discontinuation of unorthodox monetary policies and Foreign Currency management and unorthodox use of Ways and Means spending”
Cardoso added: “The economic policy proposals of the administration identify a set of fiscal reforms and growth targets that will achieve $1.0 TN GDP within eight years.
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In reviewing selected BRICS and MINT countries, with large populations and similar developmental characteristics as Nigeria, he said, “It is interesting to identify macroeconomic indices that point to Nigeria’s economic trajectory, given the faithful implementation of the proposed economic reforms.
“In economies bigger than $1.0TN, these indicators include moderate inflation, sizable foreign reserves, and the capacity to quickly rebound from a cyclical economic downturn.”
The CBN governor further stated that as part of measures to arrest inflation, the bank will improve “Access to FX market and FX price discovery,”
On his plans as CBN governor, he said the bank will continue in its advisory role to act as a catalyst in the propagation of specialised institutions and financial products that support emerging sectors of the economy and also facilitate new regulatory frameworks to unlock dormant capital in land and property holdings.
Others include accelerate access to consumer credit and expand financial inclusion to the masses and also de-risking instrumentation to increase private sector investment in housing, textiles and clothing, food supply chain, healthcare, and educational supplies as well as exercise CBN’s convening power to bring key multilateral and international stakeholder participation in government and private sector initiatives.
He cautioned that the “CBN does not have a magic wand that can be waved at the current economic challenges,” adding, “The problems facing the bank are large and complex.”
