Hardship: Nobody should blame me for Nigeria’s challenges – CBN Gov, Cardoso

• He assured that the apex bank was doing everything it could to address the nation’s economic issues and put its fiscal and monetary dynamics on proper pedestal

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, says he’s not responsible for the economic hardship Nigerians are currently experiencing.

There have been widespread lamentation and complaints from Nigerians over the state of the economy amid the government’s reform policies.

President Bola Tinubu announced economic reforms last May, including the scrapping of subsidies on fuel and the floating of the national currency, the naira.

But these polices have triggered an unprecedented cost of living crisis and inflation which have led to protests across the country.

Speaking Tuesday at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting under his leadership, Cardoso exonerated himself and his team from the nation’s economic challenges.

He assured that the apex bank was doing everything it could to address the nation’s economic issues and put its fiscal and monetary dynamics on proper pedestal.

He underscored the need to instil confidence in the citizenry and other relevant stakeholders as it was vital to achieving the apex bank’s key objectives of stabilising the economy.

Responding to a question on if the policies introduced by the CBN under his watch are responsible for the economic challenges in the country, Cardoso said: ”I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor; I and my team, are not responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence; there was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”