By Chesa Chesa
The Federal Government has vowed to crack down on foreign currency speculators in Nigeria, as it pledged a series of strict interventions in the next “few days” to stem the tide of falling value of Naira against the dollar.
The Naira had been sliding recently, such that it has exchanged for an all time high of N950 to the dollar, causing ripple effects in inflation and price of imported petroleum products.
A worried President Bola Tinubu, therefore summoned the acting Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Folashodun Shonubi, to a meeting on Monday at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja where they resolved to take urgent remedial steps to check the situation.
Emerging from the closed-door meeting, Shonubi said the measures, which he declined to give details about will take in just a few days and would be targeted at bureaux de change operators and banks engaged in currency speculation which devalue the Naira especially at the parallel ‘black’ market.
He pointedly disclosed that the upcoming measures would cause huge losses to currency speculators.
According to the CBN boss: “Mr. President is very, very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market.
“One of the things we discussed were, what could be done to stabilize and what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings on in the various other markets, including the parallel market.
“He is concerned about its impact on the average person, since, unfortunately a lot of activities that we do which are purely local, are still referenced to the exchange rates in the parallel markets. So we have discussed and shared with him what we are doing to improve supply.
“If you look at the official market, you will find that that market has been fairly stable and the spreads of the difference are not fluctuated as much. We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply but are topped by speculative demand from people.
“Some of the plans and strategies which I am not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later; the speculators should be careful, because we believe the things we are doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them.
“But my presence here is more about the concerns the President has, and he needs to know that we are doing something about it, assurances of which I have given him totally.
“So, I hope this helps. We are looking at it and we are doing things which will significantly impact the market in a few days time. And we will all see it.
“The intention is to ensure the environment operates at a level that’s more efficient, but also that is also very reasonable and does not have a negative impact to the best that we can on the lives of the average person.”
