CBN

A member of the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), Murtala Sagagi, has highlighted the complex nature of Nigeria’s inflation challenges. According to him, mere monetary policy readjustments will have a limited impact on inflation rates without simultaneous efforts to tackle the underlying issues of insecurity and food shortages. According to his statement during the last MPC meeting held between 26 and 27 February, the country needs a comprehensive approach to tackle inflationary pressure.…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided clarifications regarding its recent donation of 2.15 million bags of fertilisers to farmers across the country through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. The CBN had on Wednesday donated fertilisers valued at over N100 billion at current market prices, aiming to support domestic agricultural production and address rising food inflation. Inflation in Nigeria has continued to rise largely because of the high cost of food items. As of February, the…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reaffirmed its directive to banks regarding the utilisation of foreign currency (FCY) revaluation gains. In a circular released by the bank on Thursday and signed by the Acting Director of the Banking Supervision Department, Adetona Adedeji, the CBN advised banks against undertaking such actions. In the circular, referencing a letter dated 11 September 2023, the CBN emphasised the need for banks to exercise utmost prudence in handling these gains. According to the directive,…

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday issued a stern warning to all development finance institutions, primary mortgage banks, and microfinance banks regarding the timely submission of their statutory monthly returns through the Financial Institutions Returns Automation (FinA) application. FinA is an advanced off-site surveillance automation system for online submission of returns by financial institutions to the CBN, sponsored by USAID. Deployed in 2011, its key functions include collecting data from FIs…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has endorsed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to increase the interest rate to 22.75 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN at its last meeting raised the policy rate by 400 basis points. The committee also voted to keep the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 per cent while the Liquidity Ratio was retained at 30 per cent. Nigeria’s high inflation rate, hitting 29.9 per cent in January 2024, intensified pressure on the naira. This surge, driven by rising food…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operational licences of 4,173 Bureaux De Change operators in the country. The bank said the affected institutions failed to pay for licence renewal, submit returns or comply with CBN directives on anti-money laundering, countering financing of terrorism, and counter proliferation financing regulations. READ ALSO: CBN resumes sale of dollars to BDCs The CBN said it is revising the regulatory guidelines of BDCs. The move is part of efforts to restore confidence…

Economists and policy analysts have expressed concern about the recent actions taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria concerning the benchmark interest rate and other monetary policy matters in the country. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria increased the benchmark interest rate to 22.75 per cent on Tuesday, as part of the move to aggressively manage the country’s inflationary pressures. Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the CBN, on Tuesday, disclosed that the MPC voted to keep the Cash…

In a bid to address the lingering price distortions affecting the Naira’s exchange rate, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has authorised the sale of $20,000 to eligible Bureaux De Change (BDCs). The decision comes after the bank said it observed continued price distortions at the retail end of the market, which is feeding into the parallel market and further widening the exchange rate premium. According to a circular on Tuesday by Hassan Mahmud, the Director of the Trade & Exchange Department at the CBN,…

The Central Bank of Nigeria Tuesday raised concerns over the sum of $26 billion that flowed through Binance Nigeria over the past year from “unidentified sources”. The Nigerian government recently blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds. Addressing journalists during a question and answer session at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, expressed…

A bill seeking to limit the tenure of governor and deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to a single non-renewal term of six years has passed a second reading at the Senate. The bill was sponsored by the senator representing Lagos East, Adetokunbo Abiru. Section 8 (2) of the CBN Act 2007 empowers governors and deputy governors of the bank to stay five years in office and they are also eligible for re-appointment for another term not exceeding five years. The amendment bill was read the second…