The Senate, on Wednesday, applauded the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on encouraging developments in the Nigerian financial and monetary landscape within the last six months.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East), made the commendation during statutory engagement with the Governor of the apex bank, Yemi Cardoso.
Senator Abiru in his opening remarks at the session, said that given the strategic role of the CBN in shaping macroeconomic stability and ensuring a sound financial system, the engagement was vital for promoting transparency, adherence to statutory mandates, and effective policy communication.
According to him, financial and monetary policies of CBN within the last six months have shown remarkable improvements in the Nigerian economy.
He said: “Since our last meeting in December 2024, there have been encouraging developments in the Nigerian financial and monetary landscape.
“These include a moderation in the inflation rate beginning in January 2025—down to 22.97% in May from 23.71% in April; a gradual accretion to external reserves; as well as relative stability in the exchange rate, with a significant convergence between the official and parallel market rates.
“These outcomes reflect improved confidence in the foreign exchange market, supported by the Bank’s reform measures such as the FX Matching System and FX Code designed to deepen market transparency and discipline.
“This committee also commend the CBN Monetary Policy Committee for maintaining the Monetary Policy Rate at 27.50% in its February and May 2025 meetings—marking a deliberate pause to the rate hikes witnessed in 2024, signaling a more balanced approach in managing inflation and supporting growth.
“The committee acknowledges the CBN’s recent limited but flexible regulatory forbearance granted to Deposit Money Banks as part of its support for the ongoing – capitalization exercise.
“This policy, while carefully crafted to avoid systemic risk, reflects a pragmatic approach by the Bank to ease transitional burdens on financial institutions. In addition, the renewal of the bilateral currency swap agreement between Nigeria and China is commendable.
“This not only reinforces bilateral trade settlements in local currencies but also aligns with the Bank’s wider strategy to diversify Nigeria’s external reserves and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.
“The committee also notes the launch of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) framework by the CBN, a step that aims to improve Know-Your-Customer (KYC) standards for Nigerians and account holders abroad.
“This initiative is critical for expanding the reach of formal banking services and ensuring financial system integrity in an increasingly globalized economy”.
He however, said that there were other areas yearning for improvement, which according to him , will be discussed with the CBN governor at executive session.
Meanwhile, before the executive session, the CBN Governor reeled out gains that had been made from the apex bank’s financial and monetary policies within the last six months, some of which were geared to realization of $1trillion GDP in 2030.
“To support the vision for the $1 trillion GDP by 2030, the Bank initiated a forward-looking recapitalization of the banking sector as a potent catalyst for driving this vision”, he said.
