We must root out bad actors’ — Cardoso on Naira exchange rate against dollar

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, says the apex bank must sustain its fight against foreign exchange speculators to ensure Naira stability against the dollar.

Cardoso disclosed in a statement from the February 2025 Monetary Policy Committee meeting released on Tuesday on the apex bank’s website.

The apex bank boss harped on the need to maintain a heightened level of surveillance in the country’s foreign exchange market by rooting out bad players.

“Given the importance of the exchange rate in the fight against inflation and the sustenance of economic recovery and broader financial stability.

“We must maintain a heightened level of surveillance in our foreign exchange market and root out any bad actors and practices that threaten the smooth functioning of the market and stability of the exchange rate. The Central Bank has an unwavering commitment to this objective.”;

His comment comes as the Naira on Tuesday returned to depreciation, closing at N1,532.39 per dollar from N1,531.19.

Meanwhile, at the black market, the naira remained flat at N1,570 per dollar on Tuesday, the same rate as the previous day.

FX data from across official and parallel foreign exchange showed that fluctuation of the Naira persisted despite Central Bank of Nigeria policy intervention.

The most recent of the apex bank interventions are the launch of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (B-Match) and the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Code — initiatives designed to increase transparency, foster ethical conduct, and improve operational efficiency.

Recall that at the February monetary policy meeting, the committee retained 27.50 percent of interest in an effort to reduce Nigeria's inflation, which stood at 23.18 percent in February after the consumer price index rebase in 2025.