SHUKROH BUSARI
On Friday, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, blasted his predecessor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for scheming policies that put the Apex Bank in a bad light at the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria’s 50th Anniversary events.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the active CBN Governor stated that he was mindful of all the activities that have put the Central Bank of Nigeria in bad light in the past few years and a rectification is ongoing on the issues.
He said, “I am aware that events over the past few years have also put the CBN in a bad light”.
“These issues can be attributed to various factors, such as corporate governance failures, diminished institutional autonomy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a deviation from the core mandate of the Bank, unorthodox use of monetary tools, an inefficient and opaque foreign exchange market that hindered clear access, a foray into fiscal activities under the cover of development finance activities.”
“There was also a lack of clarity in the relationship between fiscal and monetary policies, among other challenges.”
“Hitherto, the CBN had wandered from its core mandates and was engaged in quasi-fiscal activities that pumped over N10tn into the economy through almost different initiatives in sectors ranging from agriculture, aviation, power, youth, and many others.”
“These distracted the bank from achieving its objectives and took it into areas where it had limited expertise.”
“Under my leadership, the Central Bank of Nigeria will vigorously address these issues. We will tackle institutional deficiencies, restore corporate governance, strengthen regulations, and implement prudent policies.”
“We assure investors and the business community that the economy will experience significant stability in the short-to-medium term as we recalibrate our policy toolkits and implement far-reaching measures,” he added.