The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has said, the apex bank is prepared to use any tool at its disposal to manage inflation which has continued to spiral northward.
Inflation figures had risen to 32.7 per cent in September after receding for two months as price pressures have been exacerbated by the government’s decision to scrap petrol and electricity subsidies and to devalue the naira twice since President Bola Tinubu took over last year.
Cardoso, speaking at the FT Africa Summit in London said, the apex bank is ready to use any tools at our disposal to manage inflation, as he said, he expected headline inflation to moderate in the coming months, food inflation was proving stickier.
Noting that, the bank was working closely with the government to address this, Cardoso said, Nigeria must not slacken in its reform drive as it is beginning to attract ‘growing and serious interest’ from foreign investors, citing recent visits to the country by Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon.
There is an enormous amount of interest now, recognising the fact that the Nigerian currency is relatively moderate and has made our economy a lot more competitive, he said.
The naira was worth only a quarter of its value when Tinubu took office, while fuel prices were five times higher.
Cardoso said measures introduced by the central bank to restore investor confidence were working and that there were now minimal complaints about lack of access to foreign exchange compared to ‘before, when only a handful of people could get it. Now, the market is a lot deeper… and it (forex) is available.’
Gross foreign exchange reserves now stand above $40 billion, and Cardoso said, the central bank would share details about the net reserves regularly from early 2025 in the interests of greater transparency.
Cardoso said, economic growth might remain moderate next year, in line with a World Bank estimate for 2025 of around 3.6 per cent, up slightly from an expected 3.3 per cent this year. With the reforms that are being taken right now, it will put Nigeria in a far better position to see the increase on the growth side, he said.