By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, has said that Nigerians should not blame the apex bank for the nation’s foreign exchange (FX) woes.
Mr Cardoso stated this during an interview with Arise TV’s Boason Omofaye aired on Monday, and monitored by Business Post.
He said that the CBN does not produce foreign exchange but only works with what it receives.
Speaking on how productivity in the economy would improve the liquidity in the foreign exchange market, the banker stated that everything ultimately returns to the bank.
“This is a problem I sometimes have when many blame the Central Bank for the foreign exchange situation because we rely on what comes in. We don’t produce foreign exchange. All we can try and do is use that to leverage for more to come in and that also includes foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment,” he stated.
The CBN helmsman explained the collaboration between the monetary side and the fiscal side of the economy to solve the current challenges bedevilling the nation. He stated that the sentiment is shared by different stakeholders across various government sectors.
He also stated that interventions going further must reach the people it is meant to reach and will be targeted at sectors that might have been negatively impacted by the government’s policies.
According to him, previous interventionist moves by the bank did not reach the local farmers and were not geared towards addressing the distortionist impact of government policies.
He also stated his administration would end CBN intervention finance programmes as the apex bank plans to concentrate on its primary responsibilities surrounding monetary policy.
This, according to Mr Cardoso, realigns with its core mandate and will involve transitioning into a more advisory capacity, where it can provide policy guidance that supports broader economic growth objectives.
