The Senate has approved Dr. Olayemi Cardoso’s nomination to be the Central Bank of Nigeria’s next governor.
According to Nairametrics, this came after the National Assembly’s Upper Chambers’ review. The nomination of the four CBN Deputy Governors was also approved by the Senate.
The Senate confirmed the appointments of four deputy governors: Emem Usoro, Muhammad Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor, and Bala Bello.
Cardoso emphasized during his screening the necessity of regaining the top bank’s independence and credibility by focusing on its fundamental mission and fostering a compliance-oriented culture.
“Much has been made of past CBN forays into development financing such that the lines between monetary policy and fiscal intervention have become blurred.
“The CBN must be shifted away from direct development financing interventions and into more constrained advising responsibilities that assist economic growth in order to refocus on its core mission.”
In August 2023, Nigeria’s inflation spiked to 25.80%, up 1.72% percentage points from the previous month’s reading of 24.08%.
The rise in prices is a result of the removal of fuel subsidies and the decline in the value of the official exchange rate.
Inflation increased from 2.89% in the previous month to 3.18% in the review month.
Cardoso stated in response to the issue of growing inflation that the CBN’s new leadership will “adopt an evidence-based monetary policy and shall not be making decisions based on a whim.”
Now that Cardoso and the new Deputy Governors have been formally confirmed by the Senate, the Central Bank of Nigeria is anticipated to hold its monetary policy committee meeting.
Recall that the 293rd Monetary Policy Committee (also known as the meeting, which was originally planned for Monday and Tuesday, September 25 and 26, 2023, had been postponed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
