The World Bank has lauded the reforms led by the Central Bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, noting that his monetary policies are steering the country in the right direction.
Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President of the World Bank Group, made this statement during the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group on Monday in Abuja.
Gill commended the CBN governor for his approach to managing inflation, pointing out the 850 basis point increase in interest rates over nine months.
He emphasized that implementing such comprehensive reforms requires a strong commitment from the political leadership of the country.
“Implementing such a far-reaching reform is impossible without a solid political commitment from the top. The price of PMS has quadrupled since the subsidy cut, imposing terrible hardship across the breadth of Nigeria’s society.
“The Central Bank has had to hike its policy by a huge 850 basis point, almost 9 percentage points in the last month to boost confidence in the naira and anchor inflationary expectations.
“The Central Bank financing of fiscal deficit has finally ended, and Governor Cardoso has been putting Nigeria or helping to put Nigeria on the right course,” Gill said.
Speaking further, the World Bank noted that Nigeria has to stay the course for there to be a meaningful return and reward on the lives of the citizens.
Gill said it will take the country at least 15 years before the policies begin to bear fruits and make Nigeria a global engine in the Sub-Saharan African region.
He added that this is how countries such as India, Poland, Norway and others achieve economic development and transformation.
