OGUN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigerians have been urged to exercise patience by the Central Bank of Nigeria, as the central bank’s administration is making every effort to fortify the Naira.
He made this statement yesterday at the Nigerian Economic Society’s (NES) 2024 public lecture, “Recent Developments in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Issues, Options and Way Forward,” which was held in the CBN Center of Excellence Hall at the University of Ibadan.
Speaking on behalf of the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Olayemi Cardoso, at the event, Dr Usman Opanachi, Department of Monetary Policy, CBN said, “Anytime Naira is on trial, the CBN is also on trial. We are working day and night to address the challenges and we hope things will work out. “The exchange rate features nearly in every sector. The exchange rate and inflation are very high now. The exchange rate is a problem on its own”.
“Excess demand for forex in Nigeria is a legendary problem. It has just been there and over the years, the bank has implemented various strategies to address this problem. Those strategies have only been able to provide some temporary relief.”
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“The Central Bank of Nigeria does not supply or produce dollars; It is naira that it produces. CBN management thinks when you hold the price of a commodity that is determined by Fx down artificially, a time comes when you will not be able to do that.”
“The thinking of the new management of CBN is that the policies you have are intended to address the problem. The approach the management has adopted is the Market forces approach. The bank now allows the market forces to play a greater role in the determination of the price of naira.”
A renowned economist, Prof Sam Olofin, who delivered the public lecture said, it will be difficult for the CBN to control the foreign exchange saying the parallel market forces have taken dominance.
He added that the market forces are so powerful and influential and to worsen the matter, the law that established the foreign exchange does not allow anyone to call them to order.
On the evolution of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, he said, “we are only applying the same old drugs on a patient without any good results.
