Mr. Yemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has stated that the economic policy proposals put forth by President Bola Tinubu’s administration have the potential to achieve a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of one trillion dollars within eight years. Cardoso made this declaration in Marrakesh, Western Morocco, during the 2023 World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings.
Cardoso emphasized that the CBN is currently undergoing a refocusing process to facilitate overall economic growth. The government aims to identify fiscal reforms and growth targets that can help achieve the one trillion Naira GDP milestone within an eight-year timeframe. He also mentioned that macroeconomic indicators suggest that Nigeria’s economic trajectory could align with the proposed economic reforms if faithfully implemented.
The study conducted by the CBN governor examined emerging markets and considered macroeconomic indicators, similar to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) group of nations, which share comparable population sizes and developmental characteristics with Nigeria.
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Cardoso highlighted several roles for the CBN in the refocusing process. These include clearly delineating the lines between monetary policy and fiscal intervention and shifting the CBN from direct development financing to more limited advisory roles. The CBN is expected to serve as a catalyst for specialized institutions and financial products that support emerging sectors of the economy and facilitate new regulatory frameworks to unlock dormant capital in land and property holdings.
Other roles for the CBN include accelerating access to consumer credit, expanding financial inclusion, de-risking financial instruments to increase private sector investment in key sectors like housing, textiles, food supply chains, healthcare, and education, and leveraging its convening power to bring multilateral and international stakeholders together for government and private sector initiatives.
Cardoso acknowledged that the CBN faces significant challenges, including corporate governance failures, unorthodox monetary policies, foreign currency management issues, unorthodox use of Ways and Means spending, and a backlog of foreign exchange (FX) demand. These challenges require in-depth review and creative solutions.
He emphasized that with focused leadership and sustained reforms, Nigeria is expected to make gains, attract new investments, create employment opportunities, and foster a more prosperous future for its citizens. President Tinubu’s commitment to cleaning up the CBN and its monetary policies was also highlighted, including the appointment of a special investigator and new leadership at the CBN.
