The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has credited Nigeria’s external reserves growth to $42.35 billion to the clearing of the country’s massive foreign exchange backlog and the restoration of transparency in the market.
Speaking at the CBN Annual Lecture Series themed “Next Generation Leadership in Monetary Policy and Nation Building” at the Lagos Business School over the weekend, Cardoso said credibility was the cornerstone of his leadership approach.
“When I took office, I made a promise. We would clear the verifiable backlog of monies owed by Nigeria to third parties. To be honest, I had no idea how we were going to do it, but it was not negotiable. We needed to protect and maintain our integrity,” he said.
Cardoso revealed that a Deloitte forensic audit of the forex backlog uncovered widespread irregularities in some forward contracts. Although the liabilities were not accumulated under his tenure, he emphasised that resolving them was vital for the country’s reputation.
“If we expect people to trust and invest in our economy, we must keep our promises,” the CBN Governor stated.
According to him, restoring investor confidence, ensuring market transparency, and maintaining integrity in monetary policy have been critical to stabilising Nigeria’s foreign exchange market and strengthening reserves.
