THE Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has said the country recorded a total foreign exchange inflow of about $24bn in the first quarter of 2024.
Cardoso made this disclosure during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday in London.
According to him, the inflow is about 50 per cent above the inflows recorded in previous quarters up to 2021.
The governor also declared that the days of excessive naira volatility were over, highlighting the positive impact of the monetary policy tools employed by the apex bank to tackle the challenges facing the forex market.
He explained that the inflationary pressure has started dropping as a result of the bank’s policy measures, which aim to reduce the current inflation rate of 33.69 per cent.
Cardoso, speaking in a 20-minute interview, noted a deceleration in the month-on-month inflation rates, highlighting it as a positive development.
He assured that the Monetary Policy Committee members remained vigilant in monitoring inflation trends and ensuring a moderation of inflation numbers.
He said, “The MPC has been very clear in stating that they see inflation as a major impediment to the future of Nigeria and would do everything possible to ensure that they keep inflation in check and bring it down as reasonably as they can. I don’t see that changing. So far from what we’re seeing, there’s a deceleration in inflation rates, which is good news. And my intuition is that with the measures that have been taken in the recent past, and with the confidence of the MPC members to watch the interest rate trajectory very closely. We should see a continuation of the moderation in the inflation rate.”
“Again, let’s watch the numbers but my intuition is that the MPC is determined to ensure that they put inflation in control.
Moreover, the governor refused to be drawn into whether this could signal the end of the tightening cycle that began in May 2022, when the central bank’s monetary policy committee meets in mid-July.
“Data will direct whether they see further hikes or not. The MPC has been very clear in stating that they see inflation as a major impediment to the future of Nigeria, and they will do everything possible to ensure that they keep inflation in ch and k bring it down as reasonably as they can and I don’t see that changing.”
“Let’s not forget that the MPC is an independent-minded group of people who deal with data. So, what I will say is that depending on what data they see at a particular point in time will direct how they see the hikes or not,” he added.