FOREX CRISIS: "WE ARE NOW FOCUSING ON STRATEGIC PLANNING INSTEAD OF FIREFIGHTING" CARDOSO

According to Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso, the bank's strategy for achieving foreign exchange stability has shifted from “firefighting” to strategic planning.

After six months of battling various economic difficulties, such as extreme inflation and fluctuating foreign exchange rates, this shift has finally occurred.

During a joint news appearance with the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and the Minister of Finance, he made this statement outside the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC, USA.

CARDOSO'S STATEMENTS

Governor Cardoso emphasized that the CBN is now concentrating on improving the ease of doing business within Nigeria after a period of relative stability was achieved, especially in the FX market.

· By promoting an effective and transparent market system, this strategic shift seeks to solidify the recent successes and is anticipated to increase financial and economic inclusion for consumers and small companies.

· Since taking on the role of Central Bank Governor six months ago, there have been many difficulties, ranging from managing foreign exchange market volatility to combating inflation.

But now that relative stability has been attained, especially in the FX market, we have moved from fighting fires to strategic planning in many important areas.

Using technology and remote banking options to reduce transaction costs and increase access to financial services are important projects at hand.

These actions are a part of a larger plan to replace the emergency measures that formerly dominated the central bank's agenda with actions aimed at building a more robust and inclusive economic environment.

In order to handle current and upcoming issues, Governor Cardoso underlined the necessity of a methodical approach, and making sure the CBN collaborates closely with stakeholders like banks, companies, and investors.

This cooperative effort demonstrates a fresh dedication to traditional monetary policies with the goal of restoring confidence in Nigeria's economic leadership and management.

REGARDING THE DEPRECIATION OF THE CURRENT CURRENCY RATE

Carddoso also responded to the depreciation of the current exchange rate that occurred over the weekend, as the naira declined on both the official and parallel markets on Friday.

· Cardoso notes that the Naira had also strengthened over the weekend and says that the weakening appears to be the exchange rate's instability, adding that Nigerians should “expect that there will increases, here and there, ups and down.”

· As policy reforms continue to gain traction, he underlined that the most crucial thing is that they are doing “everything possible to ensure that this is an exchange rate that finds adequate price discovery level.”

· Cardoso described the response from overseas portfolio investors as “positive” and stated that he anticipates “positive sentiments will continue to improve” in terms of ongoing inflows of capital into the nation.

He also reaffirmed the goal of the top bank's short- to medium-term policy to double remittances from the diaspora.

Although the World Bank estimates that Nigeria's diaspora remittances are approximately $20.5 billion yearly, the top bank did not specify the baseline for doubling the remittance targets.