The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that the apex bank does not determine foreign exchange rates.
Speaking as a panellist at the launch of the Nigeria Development Update in Abuja, Cardoso said the fundamentals determine the foreign exchange rate, insisting that he will stick to orthodox central banking.
According to him, the positive results of this appropriate policy direction are already evident.
He said: “The CBN does not determine the exchange rate; it is determined by the fundamentals. CBN will make sure we stick to that.
“As we strengthen our collaboration with the fiscal authorities, we will see that the exchange rate will be more stable. We will do everything possible to get more exchange rate into our economy. When we started, FX inflows were about $200 million but by sheer determination, we now record $600 million.
“We should encourage exports. If we look at the competitiveness of our goods for export, as a result of our moderation in FX, it helps us make choices that we should have made earlier. The moderation of the FX rate should also help to discourage the importation of goods that we don’t need to import.
“Before, most of the people who would have come to invest here were standing by the side. Now it is amazing to see the number of those who have come out and are ready to put their flags here,” he said.
