MPC meeting rendered largely ineffective, says CBN gov Cardoso

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Oluyemi Cardoso, has said a dislocation of monetary transmission mechanisms rendered the meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) zzlargely ineffective before he took office.

Cardoso, who took the helm of the nation’s apex bank two months ago, said this in his keynote speech at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s annual dinner in Lagos on Friday.

He said he and his team had critically reviewed the effectiveness of the central bank’s monetary policy tools and had spent time fixing the transmission mechanism to ensure the decisions of MPC meetings actually result in desired objectives. 

The MPC meeting, usually held bimonthly, did not take place in September and this month, raising concerns in many quarters.

“For quite some time, there has been a dislocation of our monetary transmission mechanisms rendering the MPC meetings largely ineffective,” Cardoso said.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 requires that the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank be held at least four times a year, and the Bank has satisfied this requirement for 2023. Our focus has been on ensuring these meetings are useful and effective,” he added. 

The next MPC meeting is expected to take place in January next year.