E-Financial
World Bank Urges CBN to Sustain Inflation Control Measures
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) must sustain efforts to tackle inflation, according to Sameer Matta, senior economist for Nigeria at World Bank.
Matta, spoke at the recent launch of the 2025 macroeconomic outlook of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
Nigeria’s inflation rose to 34.8 percent in December — up from 33.6 percent in November.
Speaking during a panel session at the event, Matta said the CBN must focus on taming inflation.
“I think what is critical in terms of inflation is to stay the course. I think that the central bank needs to continue to be focused on making sure that inflation is under control,” Matta said.
“Obviously, part of it is related to the supply side. What can be done to improve the yield on the agriculture side? What can be done to improve the link between rural and urban areas?
“There is the question of what can be done on the trade policy side. One would be to increase production locally, but that would take time.
“One of the things that can be done on the trade policy side is to think through which sectors could be targeted to allow some tariffs to be adjusted.”
Matta said the cost of not doing reforms is 2 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) for fuel subsidy and 2 percent of GDP for foreign exchange (FX) subsidy.
“That’s five percent of GDP, and that is extremely high,” he said.
“I would liken these reforms to someone with a hard medical condition who had to make tough choices.
“Let’s not forget that at some point in Nigeria, the debt service to revenue was 100 percent; now, the good news is that we are around 50 percent, and that is a big decline.
“The cost of reforms comes mainly from high inflation, and in the case of Nigeria specifically, food inflation is impacted by FX and the fact that lots of agricultural products are impacted by the price of petrol.
“That means the impact of these reforms is being felt by the most vulnerable.
“It is very important that the government continues on the reforms on social protection but also accelerates the roll-out of these cash transfers. It is more important to finance them over the future.
“It will be very important to continue to encourage the authorities to scale up and accelerate these interventions, which are time-bound and targeted at those who are really impacted and done through a digital way to avoid any potential misuse in the future.”
Also speaking on inflation, Christian Ebeke, Nigeria’s country representative at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), reiterated the need for coordination between the fiscal and monetary authorities.
He said it is important that efforts to bring inflation down by the fiscal authorities are done in the “context of better coordination”.
“For example, one of the key decisions that took place last year was the commitment by both the central bank and the fiscal authorities to strengthen coordination,” Ebeke said.
“We didn’t see Ways and Means accrue again as we have seen in the past year in Nigeria, and it was welcome.
“This is something that should bring inflation down by tightening financial conditions but also by reducing money in circulation.
“The other important thing for the fiscal authorities to do is to tackle any distribution consequences of the reforms that have been implemented.
“Naira reforms or the completion of the fuel subsidy removal. We know that these key reforms in Nigeria will have redistributive consequences on the most vulnerable, and they may not be able to cope.
“Fiscal authorities have a key role to play because the transmission lag of fiscal policies is shorter compared to monetary policies.
“So, issues of social protection are very important. That is how fiscal policies can complement what the monetary authorities are doing.”
On the ways and means, Ebeke said Nigeria should not have been in that position.
“Cleaning up this big problem is taking time, and the persistent effect of the Ways and Means on inflation and, in general terms, on financial conditions,” he said.
“The CBN is trying to mop up liquidity. Just the practice of having deficit monetisation, as has been practiced in Nigeria for years, is now over.
“Again, big congratulations to both the CBN and the fiscal authorities for curbing that.
“Now, when it comes to the securitisation of these, central banks around the world have a memorandum of understanding with the fiscal authorities on this type of liability management.
“The securitisation has the benefit of spreading out the maturities. Also, this has been done transparently, so this is good.”
According to Ebeke, with the independence and fiscal prudence of the CBN, the country ought not to experience macroeconomic pressure, as well as the effect on the parallel exchange rate and inflation.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has commenced the implementation of a fully electronic registration system for capital market operators, marking a major milestone in its digital transformation drive aimed at improving regulatory efficiency, reducing processing time and strengthening oversight of Nigeria’s capital market.
The new electronic registration (e-Registration) platform, deployed through the Commission’s ePortal, allows designated regulatory services to be completed entirely online, eliminating manual processes for services covered in the current phase.
The initiative comes as the SEC intensifies reforms to modernise the Nigerian capital market, enhance the ease of doing business and leverage technology to improve service delivery to market participants.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Commission said Capital Market Operators (CMOs) can now complete designated post-registration processes electronically, from application submission and regulatory review to approvals and the communication of regulatory decisions.
According to the regulator, the platform is designed to simplify interactions between operators and the Commission, reduce administrative bottlenecks, shorten processing timelines and give applicants real-time visibility into the status of their applications.
The SEC said the transition to a fully digital registration process would also improve operational efficiency by introducing standardised workflows, electronic documentation, secure digital record management and stronger audit trails, while enhancing regulatory oversight.
“The new platform represents a major step towards creating a seamless digital regulatory ecosystem that enhances operational efficiency while strengthening regulatory effectiveness,” the Commission stated.
Beyond improving efficiency, the regulator said the platform would reinforce the integrity of regulatory processes by minimising delays associated with paper-based documentation and improving the quality of regulatory data used for supervision and decision-making.
It added that the digital system would provide a stronger foundation for regulatory analytics and future technology-driven innovations aimed at enhancing market oversight.
The Commission explained that the implementation is being rolled out in phases to ensure a smooth transition for market participants while safeguarding the stability and integrity of regulatory processes.
For now, the e-Registration platform is limited to post-registration services for existing Capital Market Operators.
entrants seeking registration in the Nigerian capital market are not yet covered under the current phase, adding that electronic processing for new registrations will be introduced at a later date.
The Commission urged all licensed operators to familiarise themselves with the new platform and comply with implementation timelines to ensure a seamless migration to the digital system.
The latest move forms part of the SEC’s broader reform agenda to modernise market infrastructure, improve transparency and strengthen investor confidence as Nigeria seeks to deepen its capital market and enhance its competitiveness in the global financial system.
Market observers believe the digital registration initiative is expected to reduce compliance costs, improve regulatory turnaround time and support a more efficient operating environment for licensed operators, while reinforcing the Commission’s push towards a technology-driven capital market ecosystem.
Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, launched its own bank account-like product where users can send money to one another.
The service, known as X Money, is not a new bank.
X Money is using technology and banking services provided by Cross River Bank, and branding that backbone as X Money.
It is common for new financial companies to use a traditional bank’s backbone to launch its services, as chartering a new bank is a timely and costly process.
Currently X Money is invite only, and users will receive a “X”-branded Visa debit card that is useable at any ATM.
Users of X will be able to send money to other X users in real-time, the company said. Invitations are only available to X’s paying members presently
In order to attract customers, X Money is offering a 6% yield on deposits and 3% cashback on eligible purchases.
In order to earn the 6% yield, a customer would need to deposit at least $1,000 into an account.
Customers would also have to be signed up for X’s premium services, which is at least $8 a month. It would require at least a deposit of $1,600 in order to cover X’s premium services cost.
Musk has long talked about turning X into an “everything app” that would include financial services.
Musk has his origins in financial services, creating one of the first online banks under the brand X.com. That company was later bought and merged into what is now known as PayPal.
It’s still early for X Money, but the company is entering into a competitive market, dominated by PayPal’s Venmo money transfer service and other peer-to-peer money transfer services like Zelle and Cash App.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed N430 million in penalties on financial institutions in 2025 over delays in resolving customer complaints and failure to comply with its directives, underscoring a tougher regulatory stance on consumer protection in the banking sector.
The sanctions were disclosed in the apex bank’s 2025 Annual Report, which showed that 21 penalties worth N430 million were imposed on financial institutions during the review period for infractions linked to complaints management.
According to Nairametrics, the report stated that the affected institutions were sanctioned for “delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with the Bank’s directives.”
The report read, “the Bank imposed 21 penalties on financial institutions to the tune of N430.00 million, for infractions ranging from delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with the Bank’s directives.”
The latest enforcement action comes as the CBN recorded a rise in the number of complaints lodged by users of financial services, suggesting greater reliance on the regulator’s consumer protection framework.
According to the report, the CBN received 23,129 complaints from consumers of financial services in 2025, representing a 10.53% increase from the 20,925 complaints recorded in 2024.
The apex bank attributed the increase to growing public awareness and stronger confidence in its complaint resolution process rather than a deterioration in banking services.
The report stated, “The Bank received a total of 23,129 complaints from consumers of financial services in 2025, a rise of 10.53%, above the 20,925 in 2024. The trend reflected increased awareness and improved confidence in the Bank’s consumer complaint resolution process.”
It added that 18,824 complaints were successfully resolved during the year, representing a 9.36% increase from the 17,213 complaints resolved in 2024.
The report also showed a sharp increase in the value of claims handled by the regulator.
Claims denominated in local currency rose to N40.61 billion in 2025 from N17.13 billion a year earlier, while foreign currency claims climbed to $344.2 million from $1.06 million.
consumers recovered N19.12 billion and $329.3 million in refunds during the year, compared with N9.66 billion and $0.67 million refunded in 2024.
Beyond the N430 million sanctions relating to customer complaints, the CBN disclosed that it imposed another 11 penalties worth N1.26 billion on financial institutions for regulatory breaches and failure to respond to regulatory queries.
The report indicates that complaints management formed part of a wider overhaul of the CBN’s supervisory and market conduct framework in 2025.
In 2022, the CBN issued a guide on how aggrieved customers can complain about financial institutions such as commercial banks.
The regulator established a dedicated Compliance Department to strengthen oversight of financial crime, market conduct, complaints management, advertising standards, cybersecurity, data protection and corporate governance across CBN-regulated institutions.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor, CBN, recently said that the CBN and deposit money banks are reviewing excessive transaction alerts and customer charges amid complaints from bank users over confusing debit notifications and deductions.
Cardoso said the apex bank had set up a quarterly engagement structure involving its consumer protection team, deposit money banks and the top 10 microfinance banks to address unresolved customer complaints.
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