Central Banks
Nigeria’s New Central Bank Governor Tasked With Reviving Confidence
- Must raise rates and shore up bank’s limited reserves
- Needs to restore credibility after years of mismanagement
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When Olayemi Cardoso takes full control of Nigeria‘s central bank this week, his biggest challenges will be to restore its credibility after eight years of mismanagement, boost confidence in Africa’s worst-performing currency and slow an inflation rate that’s among the highest on the continent.
Since taking office in May, President Bola Tinubu has instituted a raft of new policies — scrapping a $10 billion annual fuel subsidy and liberalizing the foreign-exchange market. The reforms were much-needed, but crippled an economy long on its knees. The naira is in free-fall — hitting unprecedented lows — and gasoline prices have more than tripled, pushing the inflation rate to a more than 18-year high.