Abuja, June 1, 2023 – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday denied devaluing the naira on Wednesday to N631 from N461.6 to the dollar on Tuesday at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window of the CBN foreign exchange market.
The apex bank made the denial in a circular on Thursday, describing the news report as fake.
The naira is also reported to have appreciated to N718 naira to the dollar at the black market on Thursday from N758 on Wednesday at the CBN.
These speculative reports are coming against the backdrop of the promise by President Bola Tinubu, to overhaul the foreign exchange market in the bid to have a single naira exchange rate in the country.
This agenda, he said, is aimed at facilitating stable exchange rate, encouraging more investments into the country and stimulating exports.
It is also to assist economic planners and managers to plan ahead.
There are about five exchange rates of the naira in the country today.
There is an official exchange for federal government transactions, there is the CBN rate determined by forces of demand and supply, there is the importer/exporter rate, there is the parallel market rate and also the black-market rate.
The existence of these five-exchange rate has bred corruption by rent seekers who source foreign exchange cheaply at the government rates and re-sell at the lower end of the market where it is costlier.
Tinubu said a unified exchange rate would boost the economy generally
“The central bank must work towards a unified exchange rate; they should direct the fund from arbitrage to meaningful investment. Interest rates need to come down, currently too high, anti-people, anti-business, we have to work on all of those,” Tinubu said during his inauguration.
The World Bank has for long been calling for unified exchange rate in Nigeria. (GBN)
