KEY POINTS
- Cardoso wants to strengthen Nigeria’s economic relations with Middle Eastern countries while actively involving the diaspora population.
- The recent forex reforms implemented by Nigeria have achieved success by reducing the trading market divergence to just five percent.
- The nation holds the highest foreign reserves which have surpassed $40 billion since nearly three years.
During his meeting with CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso the Central Bank of Nigeria announced its strategic move toward enhancing economic alliances with the Middle Eastern region while working to connect better with Nigerian citizens dispersed throughout the Middle East.
Strengthening trade and financial collaboration
The conference meeting between Yemi Cardoso and Talal Al-Humond occurred at the Emerging Markets Economies Conference in Riyadh. He showed interest in the infrastructure development and tourism strategies Saudi Arabia uses because they present valuable insights for Nigerian economic diversification plans.
The CBN declared its commitment to boost remittance operations for Middle Eastern Nigerians while developing the economy through private sector expansion and employment generation and financial sector strengthening.
Reforms driving foreign exchange stability
The recent changes in financial markets have produced a substantial closure of Nigeria’s official rate-devaluation gap against its parallel market rate since this difference used to reach 60 percent but currently remains below five percent.
The implementation of two fundamental measures helped support foreign exchange stability: an electronic trading system for forex transactions and Nigerian banks who subscribed to a foreign exchange ethical code.
The foreign reserves of Nigeria reached their highest level near three years with more than $40 billion since implementing these reforms. Even though Nigeria faced economic problems from capital flight and currency depreciation together with inflation and multiple exchange rate systems he pointed out that his government’s consistent policies and transparency have built trust in the national economy.
Al-Humond made a promise to Cardoso that the Saudi Central Bank would assist Nigeria in establishing economic goals which benefited both countries.
