Abuja – The Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, says the latest policy by the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) is pushing the naira towards a unified exchange rate.
The minister, who spoke at the interactive session on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja, said the policy would end the multiple exchange rates that have bedeviled the country.
She, however, admitted that the policy has further compounded the problem in the Nigerian capital market.
She noted that foreign investors are still avoiding the capital market due to the policies.
Recall that the CBN devalued the naira in May, by adopting the Nafex rate as the government’s official exchange rate for the naira.
The policy effectively devalued the currency by 7.6 per cent. The rate had moved from between N379 and N410 to a dollar.
While speaking before the lawmakers, Mrs Ahmed said the policy is moving the naira towards a unified FX rate.
“We have not seen the return of foreign investors to Nigerian capital market. The situation is further compounded by the devaluation of naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“However, the naira is moving towards unified exchange rate.”
Speaking on the volatile nature of the naira, the CBN’s Deputy Governor, Corporate Service Department, Edward Adamu, said the outbreak of the COVID-19 and slow recovery of the oil sector are the main factors responsible for the state of the naira.
Mr Adamu said Nigerians in the diaspora have been unable to return to the rate of remittances at the pre-COVID-19 era.
“Crude oil sale has not been as high as we all want it to be and obviously in the aftermath of COVID-19, the global economy grounded to a halt and the use of crude oil also was a halt.
