Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the country recorded a total foreign exchange inflow of approximately $24 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.

Cardoso shared this information during an interview with Bloomberg TV, highlighting the effects of the CBN's monetary policy tools on the foreign exchange market.

According to Cardoso, the FX inflow in Q1 2024 is about 50 percent higher than the inflows recorded in previous quarters up to 2021. "The tools are having a positive impact. So we believe that continuing on this trajectory, liquidity will continue to grow," he said.

He also mentioned that the CBN has established a committee to increase the inflow of diaspora funds into the official FX market. This committee, reporting directly to Cardoso, aims to double the foreign exchange inflow from international monetary operations.

Cardoso noted that the committee's efforts are already yielding positive results, with increased inflows from Nigerians in the diaspora.  He said; 

"We’ve recognized the significant role that Nigerian diasporans play in remitting substantial amounts of money into the system. We set up a committee that reports directly to me to double the foreign exchange inflow coming from the IMTOs that service the autonomous players segment.

"Capital inflows are crucial. In Nigeria, the pass-through from the foreign exchange rate into inflation is quite significant. We believe that this area, outside of the normal operations involving the NNPC and exporters, will help in closing the gap.

"Already, it's starting to produce results. We are confident that these measures will increase liquidity in our market."