Cardoso Vows Single-Digit Inflation Target Despite Global Energy Shock

At the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Olayemi Cardoso reaffirmed his “orthodox” commitment to dragging inflation back to single digits.

Despite a brutal March inflation report—where monthly prices surged to 4.2% (the highest in two decades) due to the Iran-Israel-U.S. conflict—Cardoso signaled that the bank would not flinch in its tightening cycle.

The Governor’s stance is backed by Finance Minister Wale Edun, who categorically ruled out a return to “inefficient subsidies,” even as the war-driven oil price spike threatens to undermine the government’s 16.5% inflation target for 2026.

The bank will stay the course “with respect to bringing down inflation to single digits in spite of all that is going on,” Governor Olayemi Cardoso said.

The Cardoso-led monetary policy committee lowered the benchmark interest rate by a measured 50 basis points to 26.5% at its first meeting of the year in February. That decision and other reforms under his tenure has saved the country from “more pain and more difficulty since the war started,” he said.

“The expectation was that the central bank, because of the several months of deceleration, would be a bit more aggressive with reducing rates,” he said at a press conference Friday where he was flanked by Nigeria’s minister of finance. Policymakers were concerned that shocks were “hovering around” and wanted to stay clear, he said.