The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Dr. Olayemi Cardoso as the next Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This follows the screening by the Upper Chambers of the National Assembly. The Senate also confirmed the nomination of the four Deputy Governors of CBN.
The four deputy governors whose appointments were confirmed by the Senate are Emem Usoro, Muhammad Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor, and Bala Bello.
Restoring CBN’s credibility
Cardoso during his screening emphasized the need to restore the apex bank’s independence and credibility by refocusing on its core mandate and ensuring a culture of compliance.
“Much has been made of past CBN forays into development financing such that the lines between monetary policy and fiscal intervention have become blurred.
“In refocusing CBN to its core mandate, there is a need to pull the CBN back from direct development finance interventions into more limited advisory roles that support economic growth.”
Rising Inflation
Nigeria’s inflation surged to 25.80% in August 2023, 1.72% points higher than the 24.08% recorded in the previous month.
The increase reflects the impact of the removal of petrol subsidies and the devaluation of the official exchange rate on consumer prices.
Month-on-month inflation rose to 3.18% in the review month from 2.89% recorded in the prior month.
On addressing the rising inflation, Cardoso noted that the new leadership of CBN would “adopt an evidence-based monetary policy and shall not be making decisions based on a whim.”
MPC Meeting
Following the official confirmation of Cardoso and the new Deputy Governors by the Senate, the Central Bank of Nigeria is now expected to hold its monetary policy committee meeting.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had announced the postponement of its highly anticipated 293rd Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, originally scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, September 25 and 26, 2023.
