CBN Governor Appears Before House of Reps, Says Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Will Drop to 21% in 2024 |Omohglobalnews - Omoh Global News

Breaking

Home Top Ad

Post Top Ad

Responsive Ads Here

Tuesday 6 February 2024

CBN Governor Appears Before House of Reps, Says Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Will Drop to 21% in 2024 |Omohglobalnews

CBN governor Cardosso

The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor (CBN), Yemi Cardoso has faced a very hostile crowd on Tuesday during his appearance before the House of Representatives for the sectoral debate.

Many of the lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the governor in handling the naira which has been on a downward spiral in the past couple of months.

Cardoso, in his presentation before the House, explained the challenges facing the naira including the pressure from demand by students studying outside the country.

He stated that over 100,000 students are currently studying outside the country, adding that the Nigerian students spent $28.5 billion outside the country between 2010 and 2020.

Mr Cardoso said Nigerians also spent $11.06 billion on medical tourism within the same period.

“Foreign education expenses amounted to a substantial US$28.65 billion, as per the CBNs’ publicly available Balance of Payments Statistics,” he said.

Many of the lawmakers who spoke at the session, expressed concern on the handling of the naira, relocation of some CBN departments to Lagos and removal of 43 items from the FX window.

A member of the House, Sada Soli said the lifting of the ban would lead to importation of items Nigerians can produce locally.

“The removal would lead to the importation of cement and other items into this country,” Soli, a lawmaker from Katsina State said.

Responding to the 43 items, Mr Cardoso said the Central Bank backed the removal of the items because it is the duty of the Ministry of Finance import and export policies.

“CBN does not have a responsibility to determine who imports or not, for that reason we want to ensure that we abide by our remit.

“The issue is not for us to determine. That is a fiscal issue, it has nothing to do with us. We are going back to do what we are supposed to be doing,” he said.

Giving an outlook for 2024, he said; “Inflationary pressures are expected to decline in 2024 due to the CBN’s inflationary targeting policy aiming to rein in inflation to 21.4 per cent, aided by improved agricultural productivity and easy global supply chain pressures.

“The Nigerian foreign exchange market is currently facing increased demand pressures causing a continuous decrease in the value of naira.”


No comments:

Post a Comment

Post Bottom Ad

Pages