BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—(BANGKOK,THAILAND)—The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will press for practical arrangements to ease cross-border payments with China when its delegation travels to Beijing.
Governor Olayemi Cardoso disclosed this during Nigeria’s engagements at the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Bangkok, Thailand.
He said a meeting with the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Mr. Pan Gongsheng, on the sidelines of the meetings was a particularly important engagement.
According to him, the talks focused on strengthening financial cooperation between both countries, particularly in cross-border payments, settlement arrangements, financial technology and trade finance.
“We intend to build on these discussions during our forthcoming visit to Beijing,” Cardoso said, adding that the emphasis would be on practical arrangements to facilitate cross-border payments, support trade and investment flows, and strengthen financial intermediation between the two economies.
The CBN governor explained that the engagement formed part of a broader strategy to deepen Nigeria’s financial relationships with Asia through a series of engagements across the region.
Ahead of the Bangkok meetings, the Nigerian delegation held talks in Singapore with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Global Financial and Technology Network and convened the Nigeria Asia Financial Connectivity Dialogue in collaboration with J.P. Morgan, the Nigerian Exchange Group and FMDQ Group.
Apex bank boss said these engagements were intended to deepen financial market linkages and expand opportunities for economic cooperation between Nigeria and Asia.
Speaking on the domestic economy, he noted that headline inflation declined to 14.63 per cent in September 2026, from about 34.8 per cent at the end of 2024.
He added that external reserves had risen above $55 billion, their highest level in 18 years, while formal remittance inflows were approaching $1 billion monthly.
He also said the banking sector had mobilised N4.65 trillion in fresh capital through the recapitalisation exercise, with just over 70 per cent raised from domestic investors, and noted that Fitch had revised Nigeria’s sovereign outlook from stable to positive.
Looking ahead, the governor said the central bank’s focus remained on price stability, monetary discipline and safeguarding the stability of the financial system.
He said the CBN would continue to pursue a data-dependent and well-communicated monetary policy, with single-digit inflation remaining a medium-term objective.
