The Nigerian Government through the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has admitted that it had not been taking the right decision in tackling the foreign exchange crisis bedeviling the economy.
This was disclosed by the Minister, Atiku Bagudu, in a chat with journalists in Lagos over the weekend.
Bagudu said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy reforms are expected to improve the exchange rate.
He expressed confidence that Nigeria’s foreign exchange market will perform better, adding that countries that have liberalised their foreign exchange market, like Nigeria, have enjoyed better exchange rates.
According to him, global indicators had shown that things would improve, while advising local and foreign investors to take steps in this direction.
He said, “Mr. President has signed two Executive Orders. We have been deceiving ourselves; we have run a system where we no longer have dollars or foreign exchange. So even if you desire to enjoy repatriation, you don’t have to because you have boxed yourself into a corner. It has to be a willing-buyer, willing-seller market.
“There are things you can’t control. If somebody makes legislation and says that every bag of yams will cost N100, the people who hold the yams will just take them quickly back to the store and lock them. So, the steps taken by Mr President and the central bank may be inconvenient now in terms of the fluctuation, but we believe it will stabilise and get better. Countries that have chosen that route have improved on average in the long run”, he said.
On June 14, 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria floated the Naira, causing fluctuations in the country’s forex exchange market.
As of Friday, the official foreign exchange rate for the Naira was N890.54 per dollar, a decrease from N460.702 per dollar in May 2023.