By Tony Adibe
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it has been steadfast in making sure that inflation is curtailed in Nigeria. The Governor of CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, who said this on Friday in Enugu during the CBN Special Day at the ongoing 37th Enugu International Trade Fair, said their role in ensuring that the inflation rate declined in Nigeria has been steadfast and yielding dividends.
Represented on the occasion by the Acting Director, Corporate Affairs, Hakama Sidi Ali, Cardoso recalled that from May 2024 till the end of February 2026, the inflation rate had declined significantly. According to the CBN Governor, “Our fight against inflation has been steadfast, and the tight monetary policy stance we adopted has played a key role in reducing headline inflation from a peak of 34.8% in May 2024 to 15.0% by the end of February 2026.
“This includes almost a 200% increase in capital and investment flows between 2023 and 2025, and an increase in external reserves from less than 10 billion US dollars to 50.45 billion US dollars. All this while maintaining our focus on achieving single-digit inflation in the near term.
“I wish to emphasize that the Central Bank of Nigeria remains dedicated to providing timely, credible, and reliable information.”
The president of Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Nnanyelugo Onyemelukwu, had earlier lauded the CBN for their efforts in stabilising the economy and controlling inflation, but sued that they do more, especially on the interest rate.
Onyemelukwe, who was represented by ECCIMA council member Eric Chime, however, bemoaned the high interest rate, which he said should be reduced further. He said: “We commend the recent reduction of interest rate from 27.00% to 26.50% in February 2026. However, we are still worried that the interest rate is still high and needs to be brought down to a single-digit rate.
“The CBN needs an aggressive push to manage the nation’s inflationary pressure and liquidity. The high-interest rate regime will likely have an adverse effect on the accessibility of bank credit by businesses.
“There is no doubt that access to credit and cost of funds have a relationship with increasing or decreasing level of productivity, GDP, and stability of the economy.” The ECCIMA boss also urged CBN to come up with a policy that would encourage businesses to grow, adding:
“CBN must find a way through policy measures to save indigenous businesses and the industrial sector from further glaring cringe.”
