CBN Governor, Cardoso To Address The Nation Friday

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Olayemi Cardoso will address the nation by 7pm on Friday.

A source close to the CBN governor gave the details of the meeting to WESTERN POST on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the press.

The address will be the first public engagement by Cardoso since he was appointed the CBN Governor by President Bola Tinubu over two months ago.

The meeting, it is gathered will be the first opportunity for Cardozo to lay down the monetary policy of the CBN and plans to arrest the free fall of the naira.

Since Cardoso became CBN Governor, the naira has fallen to an all-time low, selling at N1,105 to a dollar at the official market last Thursday.

Cardozo and Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, have been often criticised by the public for not speaking to the nation about their plans to resuscitate the economy, how to boost the naira and how to address the surging inflation which has hit 27.34 per cent as of October 2023 since they were both appointed by President Tinubu.

The new CBN Governor has failed to hold the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting – which is the highest policy-making committee of the apex bank – since he assumed office, with the last meeting holding July 25.

The MPC has as its mandate to: review economic and financial conditions in the economy; determine appropriate stance of policy in the short to medium term; review regularly, the CBN monetary policy framework and adopt changes when necessary; and communicate monetary/financial policy decisions effectively to the public and ensure the credibility of the model of transmission mechanism of monetary policy.

Members of the MPC are: The Governor of the CBN who is the Chairman, the four Deputy Governors of the CBN, two members of the Board of Directors of the CBN, three members appointed by the President, and two members appointed by the CBN Governor.

President Tinubu announced the nomination of Cardoso as CBN Governor on September 15 following the suspension of the former Governor, Godwin Emefiele on June 9.

Appointed alongside Cardozo were four deputy governors: Mrs. Emem Usoro, Mr. Muhammad Dattijo, Mr. Philip Ikeazor, and Dr. Bala M. Bello.