Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia
The Acting Director, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Hakama Sidi-Ali has stated that over the past 34 months, the Governor of the CBN, Olayemi Cardoso led bold reforms to establish the much-needed foundation for Nigeria’s next economic phase, promoting inclusive growth and job creation to alleviate poverty.
She stated this in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital during a Fair organised by the Apex Bank, which had participants from across various sectors of the state in attendance.
She said Nigeria’s foreign reserves remained above $52.5 billion as of July 17, 2026, marking a 17-year high and surpassing the CBN’s yearly target.
The feat, she said, was supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence and participation across asset classes in Nigeria.
Sidi-Ali mentioned some of the reforms to include, the unification and greater transparency of the foreign exchange market; successful banking sector recapitalisation, which according to her,” has fundamentally strengthened the resilience, capacity and competitiveness of the Nigerian banking industry.”
“Others are the launch of the non-resident BVN to connect Nigerians abroad with local banking services; the B-Match System for forex trading; unveiling of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 (PSV 2028); and introduction of a 75% Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on non-Treasury Single Account (TSA) public sector deposits to enhance liquidity management and curb inflationary risks, among other reforms.
“The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate that headline inflation fell slightty from 15.91% in June to 15.43% in July 2026. Core and food inflation also eased over the same period, reflecting the effects of disciplined monetary tightening, exchange-rate unification, and improved market transparency,” she explained.
Speaking on the theme of the Fair: “Driving Alternative Payment Channels as Tools for Financial Inclusion, Growth and Accelerated Economic Development,” she said it was carefully chosen to highlight the connections that drive critical activities for the desired monetary, price and financial system stability, which is at the heart of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
On her part, the Branch Controller, CBN Lafia, Njideka Nwabukwu said one of the key objectives of the fair is to enlighten the public about various initiatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria, while also providing a platform for valuable feedback to help the bank improve its service delivery and policy implementation.