CBN gov, Cardoso, x-rays causes of Naira falls, pinpoints Solutions

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, who appeared before the House of Representatives on Tuesday, disclosed that Nigerians spent $98bn in 10 years on foreign education, healthcare and personal travels, which had impacted the naira.

He spoke against the backdrop of the central bank’s battle to stabilise the exchange rate amid dollar shortage.

Cardoso argued that the foreign exchange market was facing increased demand pressures, causing a continuous decline in the value of the naira.

According to him, factors contributing to this situation include speculative forex demand, inadequate forex due to low remittance of crude oil earnings to the CBN, increased capital outflows, and excess liquidity from fiscal activities.

To address exchange rate volatility, he said a comprehensive strategy had been initiated to enhance liquidity in the forex market.

This includes unifying FX market segments, clearing outstanding FX obligations, introducing new operational mechanisms for Bureau De Change operators, enforcing the Net Open Position limit for commercial banks, and adjusting the remunerable Standing Deposit Facility cap.

Cardoso revealed that between 200 and 2020, foreign education expenses amounted to a substantial $28.65bn, as per the CBN’S publicly available Balance of Payments Statistics.

Similarly, medical treatment abroad incurred around $11.01bn in costs during the same period. Within the same period, Personal Travel Allowances accounted for a total of $58.7bn.

Cumulatively, Nigerians spent about $98bn on foreign trips, medical tourism and overseas education, a figure the CBN governor said was more than the total foreign exchange reserves of the central bank.

Further compounding the situation, according to Cardoso, has been the consistent decline in Nigeria’s export earnings against the backdrop of increasing imports.

In contextualising the problem, Cardoso pointed out that Nigeria’s annual imports, which require dollars for payment, amounted to $16.65bn in 1980.