The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that Nigeria is developing a new framework to enable the use of national currencies in bilateral trade settlements.
Speaking at a press briefing at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, Cardoso explained that while the country had previously experimented with local currency trade agreements, the initiative did not yield the desired results.
“We have had an experiment with that (switching to national currencies in bilateral trade). And to be frank, it did not work out very well for us. That is not to say that we are not interested in doing this. We are. And we are really at an elementary stage of putting up a framework, now that our currency is more competitive, to be able to ensure that it is a win‑win for everybody.”
He said the Central Bank was taking a more cautious and structured approach this time to ensure that future local currency trade arrangements deliver mutual benefits and reduce dependence on foreign exchange in cross-border transactions.
