Economy
Cardoso Blames High Liquidity for Soaring Inflation
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, has blamed the high amount of liquidity in the financial system within a short time for the rising inflation in the country.
Speaking at the 296th Monterey Policy Committee (MPC), Mr Cardoso said, “When you print money on ways and means it has its consequences, and we are paying for those consequences right now, unfortunately, unfortunately, we all witnessed a situation where money supply trajectory got out of hand.”
The MPC had on Tuesday raised the country’s baseline interest rate by another 50 basis points to 26.75 per cent while adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +500/-100 from +100/-300 basis points; and retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) of commercial banks at 45 per cent.
This came as Nigeria’s inflation hit 34.19 per cent in June 2024, a consecutive 18-month increment.
Explaining how this happened, he said, “And let’s not forget that this was largely as a result of a tremendous amount of liquidity that came into the system in a relatively short space of time.
“Okay, when you print money on ways and means it has its consequences, and we are paying for those consequences right now, unfortunately, we all witnessed a situation where [the] money supply trajectory got out of hand.”
Mr Cardoso explained that despite the rising inflationary impact on the economy, it will take necessary measures to bring the nation’s rising inflation under control.
He admitted that inflation was really and truly having a major impact on our economy as purchasing power was getting eroded and people were being pushed into different categories of poverty.
“And it is in their own interest that we are able to tame the scourge of inflation. If not, the ramifications will also be for them. It’s not on the average man, you know, it’s also before them. And we understand the need for growth,” he said.
“And we also understand that it is relatively challenging. When you have high interest rates, we also understand that, and quite frankly, my belief is that it is so fundamental to the long-term future, and stability of our economy, that inflation should be brought under control that in the short term, these are pains, which ultimately will be able to help our economy and help the manufacturing businesses as well.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
