The Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Folasodun Sonubi, disclosed, Monday, that the apex bank would soon move to stop the free fall of the Naira even as the weakened national currency exchanged for N955 to a dollar.
The free fall has fueled inflation and pushed many essential commodities far beyond many households.
But while speaking with State House Correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the embarrassing slide of the naira, the CBN Governor said the apex bank was now set to halt the dangerous drift.
Sonubi told the journalists that President Tinubu was seriously concerned about the impact of recent developments on the foreign exchange market, particularly Nigeria’s toiling masses.
But the CBN boss said he assured the President that the apex bank was working itself to the bones to improve liquidity and stability in the market, while addressing issues roiling the parallel market.
He, however, stressed that the fluctuations in the parallel market were not solely driven by economic factors, but also by speculative demand.
The apex bank governor said while he would not disclose specific details, He warned speculators that the CBN was, in the next few days, coming up with initiatives that could potentially lead to significant losses for them.
He refused to give details, maintaining that the sole aim of his coming to the State House was to reassure President Tinubu that the CBN was moving speedily to address the concerns arising from the fluctuating fortunes of the naira.
Assuring that the CBN remains committed to ensuring stability and overall wellness of the country’s economic landscape, Sonubi declared:
“Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market. One of the things we discussed is what could be done to stabilise 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’s 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 exchange rates in the parallel market.
“We’ve discussed and I’ve shared with him what we’re doing to improve supply. If you look at the official market, you’ll find that that market has been fairly stable and the spreads of the difference have 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 touched by speculative demand from people.
“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re 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 his 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’re doing things that 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.”
