Central Banks

Nigeria Lawmakers Want Central Bank to Fight Inflation With Gold

  • Senators want central banker to chair new gold committee
  • Africa’s largest oil producer seeks to diversify economy
Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg
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Nigerian lawmakers are proposing a dramatic increase in the central bank’s power to use gold to shore up the nation’s reserves in defense of the economy.

A draft bill before the Senate puts forward a raft of policies that would enshrine the bank as the automatic off-taker for all the gold produced in the country, alongside a goal to make the precious metal at least 30% of Nigeria’s external reserves.