The Nigerian government says that the Central Bank of Nigeria under Yemi Cardoso is working hard to keep the Naira stable in line with President Bola Tinubu’s “multifaceted approach to ridding the nation’s foreign exchange market of malign actors and sharp practices.”
It also promised to keep going after racketeers, and told Nigerians to look forward to a stronger naira that would lead to big drops in the prices of basic goods by the first quarter of 2025.
Ajuri Ngelale, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, claimed in light of the recent steps taken by the central bank to stop the naira’s free fall and bring it back to its fair value.
Ngelale, told journalists the president “has been very consistent in his view that the labour pains felt by our people and the incredible sacrifices made by our people over the past 10 months would be rewarded across the board.”
Therefore, “The President’s multi-faceted approach to ridding the nation’s foreign exchange market of malign actors and sharp practices have provided a platform for the sustainable strengthening of our national currency against all global currencies and this is what we are seeing,” he said.
“But there is still much work to be done and this is not a time for celebration. It is a time for doubling down and working harder to ensure that inflation is sustainably brought down in short order and that consumer-protecting regulatory agencies step up enforcement to ensure that our people are not short-changed by enterprises that fail to reflect the prevailing exchange rates on the pricing of goods and services across the board,” he added.
The central bank (CBN) issued many circulars and orders that caused the local currency to rise from about 1,900/dollar in late February to almost 1,200/dollar on Tuesday at the parallel market. On Friday, the naira fell against the dollar to over 1,500/dollar on the official market. On Monday, it rose to about 1,230/dollar.
The latest actions of the CBN have been very important in making the naira stronger against the dollar. Unifying exchange rate windows, opening up the foreign exchange market, clearing banks’ and airlines’ FX backlogs, putting in place a Price Verification System, putting limits on banks’ net open positions, getting rid of the daily limit of N2bn on the reimbursable standing deposit facility, and making changes to the bureau de change segment are some of the most important reforms.
In February and March, the central bank raised interest rates and made it easier for people from other countries to bid at its fixed-income sales. This made the currency stronger. Analysts say that the bank now lets buyers from outside Nigeria pay their accounts ahead of time and get naira at the mid-market exchange rate for auctions of bills.
Several changes to the FX market have made it harder for racketeers and currency traders to work in the banking sector and on the FX market. But on Tuesday, the Presidency promised to keep going strong, saying that regulatory agencies would go after racketeers and “malign actors” who are out to stop the government’s work. In addition to promising to keep the exchange rate stable, the President also said he would fight inflation and get it down to a reasonable level.
