Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, yesterday, appealed to Nigerians for patience, assuring them that the apex bank’s management is making concerted efforts to bolster the strength of the Naira.
At the 2024 public lecture titled “Recent Developments in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Issues, Options, and the Way Forward,” organized by the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) at the CBN Centre of Excellence Hall, University of Ibadan, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), expressed these sentiments.
Represented by Dr. Usman Opanachi from the Department of Monetary Policy, CBN, he emphasized, “Anytime the Naira is on trial, the CBN is also on trial. We are working day and night to address the challenges and we hope things will work out.
“The exchange rate features nearly in every sector. The exchange rate and inflation are very high now. The exchange rate is a problem.
“Excess demand for forex in Nigeria is a legendary problem. It has just been there and over the years, the bank has implemented various strategies to address this problem. Those strategies have only been able to provide some temporary relief.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria does not supply or produce dollars. It is the naira that it produces. The CBN management thinks when you hold the price of a commodity that is determined by forex down artificially, a time comes when you will not be able to do that.
“The thinking of the new management of CBN is that the policies you have are intended to address the problem. The approach the management has adopted is the market forces approach. The bank now allows the market forces to play a greater role in the determination of the price of naira.”
In his lecture, distinguished economist Prof. Sam Olofin expressed skepticism about the CBN’s ability to manage the foreign exchange market, citing the prevailing dominance of parallel market forces. Regarding the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market’s development, Olofin remarked, “We seem to be using the same ineffective measures repeatedly, yielding no positive outcomes. The parallel markets operate independently of the CBN’s jurisdiction.”
In his opening remarks, President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, encouraged the Federal Government to seek advice from economists to address the country’s economic challenges.