The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has stated that the naira is currently undervalued.
He stated this while speaking at the 2024 macroeconomic outlook launch hosted by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) on Wednesday, January 24 2024.
Cardoso said that the central bank will accelerate genuine price discovery in the near term joint with coordinated measures on the fiscal side and that the Apex Bank has reversed to the conventional monetary policy approach with a focus on arriving at price stability, which enhances sustainable economic growth.
While maintaining that the naira is currently undervalued, the CBN governor assured that inflationary pressures are expected to reduce in 2024.
He said, the apex bank aims to rein in inflation to 21.4 percent in 2024.
“Inflationary pressures are expected to decline in 2024 due to the CBN’s inflation-targeting policy, which aims to rein in inflation to 21.4%,” he said.
“The CBN adoption of the inflation-targeting framework involves clear communication, use of monetary policy instruments, and collaboration with fiscal authorities to achieve price stability, fostering market confidence and positively influencing consumer behaviour.”
“The outlook for decreasing inflation in 2024 will have a profound impact on businesses, providing a more predictable cost environment and potentially leading to lower policy rates.” He added.
Recall that in 2023, the inflation continued on an upward trend, rising to 28.92 percent in December.
