The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, says the country has been able to create resilience and buffers against potential shocks that may arise in the economy.
Cardoso said this on Tuesday in Washington, during a media briefing by the G24 on the sidelines of the ongoing Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Group.
According to him, Nigeria was fortunate because a lot of the things that needed to have been done have been done much earlier.
“As a result, we were able to create resilience and buffers against potential shocks.
“In terms of anchoring expectations, we found that those who followed the Nigerian economy were fairly comfortable.
“For us, again, oil is basically the only commodity that was so exposed, and the impact on that was relatively modest.
“Now, we have a more competitive currency, and as a result, for once, we have a situation where we have a positive balance of trade surplus.
“We expect it to be around six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and remain in that range for some time,” he said.
The CBN governor said Nigeria was completely restructuring its economy, with a competitive currency encouraging people to go into domestic production, and also discouraging inputs.
On G-24 stance on advancing its members interest, Cardoso said that under the leadership of Argentina as chair, the group had advanced the course with the voice of the emerging economies.
“It has been able to get a greater, a more effective seat at the table, especially with respect to the Bretton Woods institutions and getting our voices heard.
“I think that, in itself, is a major step forward. So, my expectation is that the good work that has been done will be further deepened in the years ahead,” he said.
