FOREX Blight: No Cause For Alarm – CBN Assures Nigerians
- As RT200 FX programme hauls $600m
BY COBHAM NSA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned Nigerians against succumbing to the speculative activities of some players in the foreign exchange market, saying there is no reasons for citizens to fret over dipping forex in the country.
This is as the apex Bank disclosed that one of its intervention packages, RT200 FX programme, brought over 600 million US dollars foreign exchange inflow by June 2022 ending.
The CBN’s caution comes against the backdrop of rising demand by Nigerians for foreign exchange to handle both goods and services.
Accordingly, the CBN had expressed its resolve at addressing the foreign exchange issues confronting the nation with assurance of working to manage existing and emerging challenges on both the demand and supply sides.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on recent developments with the forex market, the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Osita Nwanisobi admitted that there was huge 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.
He also said though the apex Bank was concerned about the international value of the Naira, the monetary authority is strategizing to help Nigeria earn more stable and sustainable inflows of foreign exchange in the face of dwindling accruals from the oil sector.
Nwanisobi specifically noted that recent CBN’s initiatives, such as the RT200 FX Programme and the Naira4Dollar rebate scheme, have assisted in increasing foreign exchange inflow to the country.
He said the Bank’s records indicate that foreign exchange inflow through the RT200 FX Programme in the first and second quarters of 2022 increased significantly to about US$600 million as at June 2022.
Furthermore, the apex Bank Spokesman disclosed that the Naira4Dollar incentive also increased the volume of Diaspora remittances during the first half of the year.
Similarly, he said interventions such as 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity; Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP); and the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF), among others, are geared towards diversifying the economy, enhancing inflow of foreign exchange, stimulating production and reducing foreign exchange demand pressure.
Nwanisobi said the Bank would not relent in making deliberate interventions in the foreign exchange sector to avert further downward slide in the Naira value, an unhealthy development fuelled by speculative tendencies in the nation’s financial system.
The Director, who amplified the position earlier expressed by the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, tasked Nigerians on playing their roles as patriotic citizens, by adjusting their consumption patterns, looking inwards and finding innovative solutions to the country’s challenges.
He explained that monetary policy alone can not bear all the burdens of the expected adjustments required to manage challenges around Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, saying; “It’s our collective duty as Nigerians to shore up the value of the Naira” by our patriotic actions.
