Reactions as CBN reportedly devalues Naira to 630/$1

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day, according to a report by Daily Trust.

The devaluation came 48 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the plans of the federal government to unify the country’s exchange rate to stimulate the economy.

Background

In his inaugural speech, minutes after he was inaugurated as the 16th president of the country, Tinubu said,  “Monetary policy needs a thorough house cleaning. The Central Bank must work towards a unified exchange rate. This will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment and jobs that power the real economy.”

There has been a wide margin between the I&E window and the parallel market, a situation that experts say encouraged round-tripping with Bureau de Change operators.

The situation has seen the CBN devise several measures to check the practice as well as completely stop the sale of forex to BDCs.

On Tuesday, President Tinubu met with the top echelon of strategic institutions including the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the presidential villa.

At the end of the meeting, neither the presidency nor Emefiele disclosed the outcome of the briefing. It was, however, gathered that the issue of the exchange rate was discussed at the meeting.

The President also met with the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari. The removal of petrol subsidy was discussed, it was gathered.

Reactions

Lmaooo….my salary go loonnnggg now But Cost of living go collect am back — @maverickhills

I was expecting this for a long time now.The gap btw the black mkt and the official rate was too wide…. We are just getting serious with our basic economics #nairadevaluation. Yesterday was #nnpc #fuelsubsidy issues today naira… I hope favourable economic policies will follow — @abiojegs

Shege pro max loading. Instead of making dollar available for importers & improving export, the choose the regular devaluation part. When it didn’t dey, it didn’t dey — @emmy4life02

As we deregulated our midstream and downstream sector of Economy so also let try deregulate our Current let the market forces be the determine of our equilibrium rather than continue devalue our currency to the unrealistic manner — @NuraUsm62155364

Make any mafia no move mad sha. Make this man just finish Wetin he don start. I haven’t seen a Nigerian government get economics this right in my lifetime — @zaddy_tomiwa