The new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Olayemi Cardoso has assured that the Apex bank will address all bottlenecks and it creates an enabling environment for foreign investment to thrive in the country.
Mr. Cardoso who gave the assurance when a group of investors paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, promised that the new management team under his leadership will do its best to tackle the impediments to liquidity in the foreign exchange market in Nigeria.
He harped on the need for credibility and transparency in implementing the Bank’s monetary policy, adding that the Bank would focus on strengthening its data-gathering system to ensure that only verifiable data will be relied upon for evidence-based decisions.
While disclosing plans to formally unveil his agenda for the monetary and financial sector in the days ahead, he said that the CBN would adhere to rules that are acceptable and transparent for the conduct of monetary policy.
Speaking further on liquidity management, he said his team had a short-term goal of addressing structural issues within the financial system that gave rise to the liquidity challenge in the first instance.
On the relationship between the monetary and fiscal authorities, the new CBN Governor said there would continue to be consensus between both authorities to harmonise their positions on the interest rate and inflation. He, however, said the Bank would remain open to different views in its push for greater transparency.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cardoso said the Bank would only provide strategic policy support to critical sectors of the economy while allowing experts to take charge of such critical sectors, given that the expertise lies within other relevant agencies.
Speaking earlier, leader of the Delegation of Investors, Mrs. Ireti Samuel-Ogbu, said they were at the CBN to discuss ways of strengthening collaboration to boost foreign investment in Nigeria.
The group also emphasised issues around the Bank’s independence and the need to grow the country’s foreign exchange reserve, among other issues.
