Cardoso to Nigerians: I, my team not responsible for Nigeria’s economic woes

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said he and his team are not responsible for Nigeria’s current economic woes.

Cardoso stated this while responding to a question in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Tuesday. 

The question focused on whether the CBN is responsible for the current economic challenges faced by Nigerians.

The question was thrown after the first Monetary Policy Committee meeting presided over by Cardoso. 

According to the Governor, the CBN is taking the necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal.

He said: “I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor — I and my team — are not responsible for the woes that we have today.

“We are part of the solution.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. 

“We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence.

“There was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there, but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”

Cardoso further disclosed that CBN has raised its benchmark interest rate, Monetary Policy Rate, to 22.75 percent, which represents 400 basis points, up from 18.75 percent.