Business

New CBN Governor Working on Naira Stability, Inflation Mgt

Published

3 years ago

September 27, 2023

OCHEFA

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The acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, has given an insight into how he and his team will address both the devaluation of the Naira and the rising inflationary trend.

Cardoso disclosed this while fielding questions from senators during his screening as the CBN governor and the deputy governor nominees on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Cardoso said that he will use what he called short term and long term measures to address the challenges .
“On the issue of foreign exchange which everybody has been talking about is very worrisome. It goes without saying that for the sort of country we want we need to have an exchange rate that is very stable. For a country that we all dream of we need to have an exchange rate that is stable.

“The major short term measure has to do with balance of payments over a period of time like the sort of things that are being done already with respect to ensuring that you are getting more Petroleum Resources and diversifying the economic base of the country. That I believe will continue by the present administration and of course it will take time I think we should take that as a medium.

“The more immediate is what you need to look at: Number one, is what I call operational issue.

“We are aware that there are unsettled obligations by the CBN. Whether it is N$4b, N$5b or N$7b, I don’t know but definitely the immediate priority is to ascertain the extent.

“We need to find a way to take care of that. It will be naive for us to be expecting to succeed if we are not able to handle that side of the foreign exchange market.”

Cardoso further explained his second point, saying, “Second, we have to be transparent so that any of the players in that market will understand. We have to come up with rules that are transparent that any of the players in that business understands

“You cannot reasonably expect serious foreign investors, portfolio investors Foreign Direct Investment, that is why we were talking about short term we are not going to expect that players players who will have direct impact on your market will not do so if we do not have an open, transparent system that everybody understands, that can be relied on.

“Those two immediate steps will go a long way to ease up the restrictions and encourage investors to come with their money.
The short term measures is something that my team will address. The impact will help us with greater liquidity.

“In setting up those guidelines, one will also have to carry stakeholders along.

“These are two immediate steps that will go a long way to ease up the restrictions and encourage investors to come with their money. The short term measures is something that my team will address. The impact will help us with greater liquidity.

“On the issue of inflation , again there are longer term measures there are shorter term measures and I believe that some of those measures are being taken already.

“We will be looking at evidenced based monetary policies. We must do something about our data capacity to take critical decisions, based on data.”

Related Topics:Governor of CBN Olayemi Cardoso Stabilise Naira

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Business

Cardoso Urges Banks To Lend Out Idle Funds With CBN * Retains MPR at 26.5%

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

Published

5 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso , urged banks from keeping idle funds with the apex bank and encouraging increased lending into the economy.

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

The apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), also known as benchmark interest rate, at 26. 5 percent.

This decision marks the second consecutive retention of the MPR at 26.5 per cent, following a 50-basis-point reduction in February from 27 per cent.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk,” said Cardoso.

He emphasised that although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

The MPC also adjusted the asymmetric facilities corridor around the MPR to +50/-450 basis points—a move aimed at discouraging banks from keeping idle fund with CBN.

Furthermore, the committee maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 45 per cent, retained the rate for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and kept the CRR on non-TSA public-sector deposits at 75 per cent for liquidity management considerations.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

Business

CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Published

14 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

20 Views

File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.

“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.