The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said inflation would have risen to 42.81 per cent by December 2024 if not for the bank’s policy interventions. Cardoso who spoke at the 2025 Monetary Policy Forum, also projected that diaspora remittances would rise to N31.79tn when fourth-quarter figures for 2024 are released.
The forum also brought together ministers, heads of economic agencies, and private sector players. The apex bank’s boss further pledged to stick to orthodox monetary policies to tame inflation in 2025.He stated that counterfactual estimates suggest that without decisive policy interventions, inflation could have reached 42.81 per cent by December 2024.
He listed some of the bold policies implemented by the CBN in 2024 across six Monetary Policy Committee meetings including raising the Monetary Policy Rate by 875 basis points to 27.50 per cent, increasing the Cash Reserve Ratio for Other Depository Corporations by 1,750 basis points to 50.00 per cent, and adjusting the asymmetric corridor around the MPR.
Cardoso said, “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.”
The apex bank’s boss highlighted that the CBN implemented critical foreign exchange reforms to enhance market efficiency. The unification of multiple exchange rate windows contributed to a 79.4 per cent rise in remittances via International Money Transfer Operators to $4.18bn in the first three quarters of 2024, up from $2.33bn in the same period in 2023.
Other major FX-related interventions included clearing a $7bn FX backlog, which restored market confidence and improved FX liquidity, lifting restrictions on 41 items previously banned from access to the official FX market since 2015, and introducing new minimum capital requirements for banks, effective March 2026, to enhance resilience and global competitiveness in the sector.
