Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank on Friday stressed that the apex bank does not have the magic wand to stabilize foreign exchange, but that all Nigerians must begin to reduce the frequent demand for dollars both for personal and business purposes.
Cardoso said this during the ongoing interface with the Senate Committee on Banking Finance and Other Financial Institutions. He is in company with Wale Edun, Minister of Finance, and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Abubakar Kyari, minister of Agriculture and other economic team members.
While recalling his earlier comment during his interface with the House of Representatives that the growing FX demand for education and medical tourism is putting pressure on the Naira, Cardoso told the lawmakers that Nigeria must begin to look inwards on how to improve its education and health institutions to reduce demand for dollars.
“We argue that Nigerians must work together to moderate demand for the dollar. Were there are opportunities to substitute locally, we should do so. I believe that if we can up our game in education, then the demand for people to go abroad to spend money will not arise.
“We should put together a committe to moderate these things, every single one has a responsibility. Nigerians have to reduce frequent demand for dollars for business and personal needs”, he stressed.
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