“I am not responsible for Nigeria’s Economic problems,” says Cardoso

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, stated that he and his team are not responsible for the current economic challenges faced by the country.

He made this remark on Tuesday in Abuja during the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting since he assumed office in September 2023.

The CBN Governor added that the bank is taking necessary steps to restore the country’s fiscal and monetary stability.

Nigeria is currently dealing with several economic issues such as rising inflation, food inflation, forex crisis, economic hardship, and high cost of living due to the removal of petrol subsidy, which has led to protests in some parts of the country.

However, Cardoso said that the MPC identified non-monetary factors such as the persisting insecurity and infrastructure deficit as the driving force behind inflation, and also noted the role of fiscal policy in addressing the shortfall.

Cardoso was responding to a question about whether the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was responsible for the current economic challenges faced by Nigerians.

He stated that while he found the question amusing, it was a serious matter. It was important for Nigerians to understand that he and his team were not responsible for the problems in the economy, but were actively working to solve them.

Cardoso emphasized that they were determined to work hard to get the country out of its current predicament. He acknowledged that they had assumed responsibility during a crisis of confidence and that this had posed additional challenges.

However, he stressed that they could not turn back the clock and were doing everything they could to make a bad situation better.

Cardoso also noted that their efforts were beginning to bear fruit and that confidence was slowly returning. He believed that restoring confidence was crucial to the success of businesses and the economy as a whole.

Interest Rate Raised To 22.75%

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised the benchmark interest rates, known as the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), by 400 basis points from 18.75% to 22.75%.

This decision is part of a move to address the country’s inflation, which currently stands at 29.90%.

The major drivers of inflationary pressure include exchange rate pass-through, increasing energy costs, high fiscal deficit, and security challenges in major food-producing areas. Projections indicate that inflation will continue to rise before eventually decreasing. The next MPC meeting is scheduled for March 25th and 26th, 2024. Godwin Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu, and Cardoso, a former Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State, took over the leadership of the apex bank three months later.