CBN Reiterates FG’s Stance On Naira Devaluation

Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Friday, said it has no plans to devalue the naira again. This echoes the same commitment made by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday, October 29th.

Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele disclosed to journalists that the last devaluation took place in February and would remain so for now.

“There has been a lot of talk on whether or not we want to depreciate our currency again.

“The truth is that we had adjusted the currency by depreciating it from N155 to N197 in February this year.

“There is no intention to depreciate or adjust the currency any longer,” he said.

In recent weeks, there have been suggestions that the naira b devalued, yet again, amidst harsh economic climes. Both the International Monetary Fund and former CBN governor, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, recently called for the depreciation of the currency.

However, Vice President, Mr. Osinbajo said on Thursday that the government will not shift its stance.

According to Mr. Emefiele, “the President has been very clear on this; the Vice President has been very clear on this and let me further reiterate our position at the CBN that we are not considering any further depreciation of the currency”.

He said the focus of the bank was how to deepen the foreign exchange market to make it viable.

“What we are trying to concentrate on right now is how to improve and deepen the foreign exchange market by improving supply of foreign exchange into the market.

“And to do so, we are trying to encourage people to export and earn your export proceeds and use your export proceeds to import whatever you need to import.

“We are also concentrating on how to reduce the import of items that we can produce in the country today,” he said.