So much expectation has greeted the emergence of Mr. Adeyemi Cardoso as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his highly-experienced deputies of integrity. The high expectations, understandably, stem from years of monetary policies of the apex bank that came with so much discomfort for national economy and the wellbeing of the populace.
The idea of a new set of CBN management became not just desirable but inevitable, moreso when the national currency has been on a free fall for far too long. There has been uncertainty as the currency takes further nose-dive with biting inflation.
One seemingly endless talking point on the new media space has been the fate of the naira against major international currencies, notably, the dollar. Such discussions have often ended with blame games rather than working on solutions. Of a truth, politicians have had a field day lambasting the nation’s presidency over the unsavoury experience of currency value depreciation.
Happily, the debate about money policy, after the change of guard at the CBN is gradually tilting from lamentation to expectations for good.
The Senate’s clearance of Cardoso and his deputy directors opened a new window of hope for radical monetary policies helpful to economic revival, with some arguing that there is possibility of a near-quick-fix strategy.
Cardoso already has three decades of experience in financial management across the public and private sectors. This makes him armed enough to kick-start the initial clean-up of the mess in the Nigerian economy.
The new CBN governor and his deputies are likely to confront, head-on, the problems of revenue shortages, inflationary pressures, and exchange rate instability.
The first important step, which Cardoso and his team have started, is the overhaul of the exchange rate problem, which, according to experts, “is also linked to revenue shortages due to insecurity”.
It is heartwarming to economic experts that Cardoso and his team would make significant impact in turning around monetary and fiscal policies to reform Nigeria’s economy from a largely consuming one to an exporting one. Though this maybe helpful to both Nigeria’s GDP and foreign reserves, experts insist it would take some time.
A vigorous monetary policy has the potential of reducing waste and fighting corruption in the financial sector.
Luckily for Cardoso, his deputies are all well-known for their abilities of service delivery and uncommon expertise in economic matters. Their names rang a bell long before their clearance by the National Assembly and subsequent assumption of duties. Take Emem Nnana Usoro, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo or Philip Ikeazor, and Bala Bello, for instance. These are people with record of professional integrity and are management savvy.
Nigerians’ expectations, though they seem over-bloated, signal the sense of urgency required to strengthen the national economy to enhance the nation’s image locally and internationally. All eyes are now on the CBN Governor Cardoso, his expertise and a dedicated team of equally-competent deputies, to spearhead the badly-needed monetary policy reform of revamping the national economy.
Dambatta, a veteran journalist can be reached on editir@politicstoday.ng