CBN’s Cardoso has expressed confidence in achieving $1 billion in monthly remittances by addressing diaspora concerns and strengthening financial reforms.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, on Saturday in Washington DC stated that having addressed concerns raised by International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) and with the assurances from Nigerians in the Diaspora, the apex bank was confident that it would attract $1 billion monthly remittances.
Cardoso stated this at a joint press conference with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun, at the end of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Annual Meeting, according to Arise News.
CBN governor, who said the apex bank was working assiduously to get Nigeria out of the grey list, added that remittances, which were a little above $250 million as of April this year, increased to over $600 million as of September this year.
This is just as Edun has declared that the bold reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration were yielding the desired results.
According to Cardoso, “Nigeria has such a strong diaspora community here; in the earlier stages of the reforms, IMTOs were having issues transferring money back to Nigeria, and we felt it was important to engage them, and we did. As a result of that engagement, we identified particular problems, of which a lot of responsibility was shared. Things have since improved because as at the last meetings, which was, I think, April, monthly inflows were about $250 million, but as of September, it had risen to $600 million.
“With the recent announcement by Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBBS) on Bank Verification Number (BVN), and other products that the banking industry is offering, and through engagement with the diaspora, we believe we will be able to move accordingly and again, rising from that engagement, we put our sights on increasing the inflows to $1 billion monthly and I’m confident that we will get there,” he explained.
To further boost Investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy, the CBN governor disclosed that the apex bank was doing everything possible to remove Nigeria from the Grey List.
Giving a breakdown of his achievements in the last one year, the CBN governor said: “In the last one year, our focus has been on the exchange rate, enhancing financial systems provision, fostering financial inclusion, and enhancing transparency in our monetary policy decisions and communications.”
He added that the CBN recapitalisation policy has prompted deposit money banks to strengthen their financial positions, a process he said is expected to result in a more robust and resilient banking sector.
Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Edun said the bold reforms embarked upon by President Tinubu were yielding the necessary results.
“It has been a very interesting week of conversation at the highest level about the world economy, the status, direction, and various inputs as to the policy restrictions. We all agree that there is a need to combat inflation, for most of Europe, they are close to their target level of two per cent. Their economy is gradually recovering, and as a result, is gradually easing their monetary positions, which were very tight,” Edun said.