The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remains focused on achieving a single-digit inflation rate as its medium-term goal, despite easing its four-year monetary tightening stance. CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, confirmed this objective during the CBN Governor’s Annual Lecture Series held at the Lagos Business School over the weekend.
Cardoso highlighted that the current inflation data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which reports a headline inflation rate of 20.12%, might be overstating the true general price level. He cited a report by Renaissance Capital Africa (Rencap) suggesting that inflation could have reduced to 12% in October, with a possible decline to single-digit rates next year.
“The Central Bank is on track to bring inflation to single digits within the next few years,” Cardoso said, noting that recent adjustments by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) including a reduction in the benchmark interest rate by 0.5% reflect satisfaction with ongoing disinflationary trends.
Cardoso also praised the CBN’s efforts to maintain transparency, emphasizing that such openness was rare within the Nigerian financial sector. He assured that by the time his tenure ends, no one would need to know influential figures to access foreign exchange for business purposes. This transparency, he asserted, has raised the level of confidence among international stakeholders.
Under Cardoso’s leadership, the CBN has significantly reduced the “Ways and Means” facility, bringing it below the statutory limit. He noted that honoring outstanding foreign exchange obligations, a move many anticipated would not be fulfilled, was pivotal in building trust.
“When I took office, I made a promise: we would clear the verifiable backlog of debts owed by Nigeria. To be honest, I didn’t know how we would do it, but it was non-negotiable. We needed to protect our integrity and maintain credibility,” he added.
Looking ahead, Cardoso also reaffirmed the CBN’s collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to develop a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. He recalled how Nigeria had once been a global leader in cryptocurrency trading, noting how rapid market growth caught regulators off-guard, forcing them to reevaluate their strategies.
“What started as a fringe trend quickly turned into a complex financial ecosystem, attracting Nigerians from all walks of life. As digital currency adoption soared, so did the need for a regulatory framework to protect users and stabilize the market,” Cardoso concluded.
