Cardoso stated this at the “Cowries to Cashless” lecture and launch in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Tuesday.
The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Dr Olayemi Cardoso, has stated that the economic woes in Nigeria were occasioned by a number of macroeconomic issues including the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Cardoso stated this at the “Cowries to Cashless” lecture and launch in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Tuesday.
The CBN governor, who was represented by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Mustapha Haruna, said the country was going through economic challenges occasioned by the pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The CBN governor said the book (Cowries to Cashless) would capture the evolutionary journey in the history of the CBN, particularly with regards to the phenomenal transformation of the Nigerian payment system in the last two or three decades.
This transformation, Cardoso noted, had been deepened by the implementation of the cashless policy.
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua, noted the “steady rise” in the value of the naira in the past few days, saying the fall in the value of the currency of a country was a sign of conquest.
He said: “When you want to destroy a country, destroy its currency first.”
He cautioned Nigerians hoarding foreign currencies with the hope that the local currency would continue to fall, warning that the policies of the government would shock them.
Fasua, who represented Vice President Kashim Shettima at the event said: “For those who are speculating and praying and wishing that the currency would become nonsense, I believe that policies being rolled out by the Central Bank and the government that I serve, led by the President, will shock some of them.
“You need to listen to the agenda from the man himself (Tinubu) and you will see that the level at which he is thinking is far ahead of most of us.
“You know, he has some very great ideas coming up. Some of them are what you’ve seen reversing the fall in the value of the naira, but he has also challenged us to review forward many of the targets, for example, the idea that Nigeria’s economy will get to a trillion dollars.
He wants to achieve it by 2026.
“Some people thought the naira will continue to lose value. Of course, we can already see what’s going on and who knows, maybe the naira will strengthen even further to maybe something 500 or 600. I’m beginning to see some of those.”
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