In response to Nigerians’ growing need for foreign exchange for goods and services, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pledged to continue its deliberate efforts in the foreign exchange sector to stop additional naira value declines, which it claimed were brought on by speculative tendencies.
Yesterday, Mr. Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, counseled the public against giving in to the temptation to follow the speculative actions of certain foreign exchange market participants.
He reiterated a previous stance taken by CBN Governor Mr. Godwin Emefiele, calling on Nigerians to fulfill their responsibilities by changing their purchasing habits, reflecting, and coming up with creative answers to the country’s challenges.
“It’s our collective duty as Nigerians to shore up the value of the Naira,” he said, arguing that monetary policy alone could not handle the expected adjustments required to manage the difficulties surrounding Nigeria’s foreign exchange.
He asserted that the CBN has been striving to manage the supply-side and demand-side challenges because it is still dedicated to finding a solution to the country’s foreign exchange problems.
According to the spokesperson, the country’s foreign exchange inflow has increased as a result of recent CBN Bank efforts including the RT200 FX Program and the Naira4Dollar rebate plan.
In the first and second quarters of 2022, foreign exchange inflow under the RT200 FX Program surged dramatically to approximately US$600 million as of June 2022, he said, citing the bank’s records.
In a similar vein, he revealed that during the first half of the year, the Naira4Dollar incentive also raised the amount of remittances from the Diaspora.
The 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity, the Anchor Borrowers’ Program (ABP), and the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF), among other initiatives, were designed to diversify the economy, increase foreign exchange inflow, stimulate production, and lessen the pressure on foreign exchange demand, Mr. Nwanisobi continued.
The monetary authority was planning to help Nigeria earn more stable and sustainable inflows of foreign exchange in the face of declining inflows from the oil sector, Mr. Nwanisobi said, while acknowledging that there was enormous demand pressure for foreign exchange to meet the needs of manufacturers as well as those for the payment of tuition, medical fees, and other invisibles.
