The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has maintained that but for the apex bank’s hawkish monetary policy stance and its interventions, Nigeria’s inflation rate would have surged to 42.81% by December 2024.
Cardoso, who made this remark on Thursday at the 2025 Monetary Policy Forum, which featured ministers, heads of economic agencies, and private sector players, disclosed that counterfactual estimates suggested that without decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 per cent by December 2024.
While stressing that the apex bank’s management will sustain the hawkish monetary stance this year as part of measures to tame the surging inflation rate, the governor also projected that when the figures are finally computed, diaspora remittances to Nigeria could surge to about N31.79 trillion at the end of last year.
According to him, in financial year 2024 the CBN implemented bold policy measures based on the decisions reached at its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC’s) meetings, including raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 875 basis points to 27.50%, increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for Other Depository Corporations by 1,750 basis points to 50.00%, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR.
Cardoso clarified: “Counterfactual estimates suggest that without these decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 per cent by December 2024
“Throughout 2024, the bank implemented several bold policy measures across six MPC meetings, including raising the Monetary Policy Rate by a cumulative 875 basis points to 27.50 per cent, increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio of Other Depository Corporations by 1,750 basis points to 50.00 per cent, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR”, he added.
In addition, he recalled that the apex bank implemented critical foreign exchange (FX) reforms to enhance the FX market efficiency, adding that the unification of multiple exchange rate windows increased remittances via International Money Transfer Operators to $4.18 billion in the first three quarters of 2024, up from $2.33 billion in the corresponding period in 2023, representing 79.4% increment.
Cardoso listed other major FX-related interventions as including the clearing of $7 billion FX backlog, lifting restrictions on 41 items previously banned from access to the official FX market since 2015, and introducing new minimum capital requirements for banks to enhance resilience and global competitiveness in the banking sector.
Similarly, he spoke on the launching of the WIFI initiative under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) by the apex bank with the aim of bridging the gender gap in financial access by empowering women with financial services, education, and digital tools.
Explaining that the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code is introduced to ensure integrity, transparency, and efficiency in the FX market, the CBN governor described the FX Code as a binding commitment to rebuild public trust and confidence in the nation’s banking sector.
Cardoso maintained that the sundry policy measures by the apex bank reflected the management’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for inclusive economic development.
To ensure macroeconomic stability, he explained that this required sustained proactive monetary policy stance, adding that to mitigate the rising inflation amid persistent shocks will require strong policy coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities with focus on price stability, the planned transition to an inflation-targeting framework, and strategies to restore purchasing power and ease economic hardship.
