I’m not responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes, says Cardoso

-CBN increases interest rate to 22.75% 

Our reporter/ The governor of the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, on Tuesday distanced himself and his economic team from the current economic woes in the country.

Cardoso, who stated this in Abuja at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting since he assumed office in September 2023, however, said the CBN is taking the necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal.

The apex bank boss, was responding to a question that the CBN is responsible for the current economic challenges faced by Nigerians.

He said, “I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor — I and my team — are not responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence; there was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”

The MPC also raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by four hundred basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent.
With inflation at 29.90 percent, he said the new MPR is part of moves to tackle the country’s inflation.

CBN increases interest rate to 22.75% 

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised the Monetary Policy Rate(MPR) by four hundred basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent.

Governor of the CBN Yemi Cardoso announced this after the first MPC meeting for the year in Abuja on Tuesday.
The MPR has been 18.75 percent since the last MPC meeting between 24th and 25th July 2023.

With inflation at 29.90 percent, he said the new MPR is part of moves to tackle the country’s inflation.

Cardoso who chairs the MPC also said the Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR) has been raised to forty-five percent while the liquidity ratio was left unchanged at thirty percent.

The CBN chief also said over $26 billion has passed through the crypto app Binance Nigeria in the last four years.

‘In the case of Binance, in the last one year, 26 billion dollars has passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify,” he told reporters in his first MPC meeting since assuming office as the CBN governor.