Reduce Demand For Dollar, Foreign Goods – CBN Gov

To stop the free fall of Naira in exchange for US dollar and other hard foreign currencies, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, admonished Nigerians to reduce their appetite for dollar, consumption and usage of foreign goods.

Cardoso who gave the admonition during an interactive with the Senate Committees on Finance , Appropriations, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions had with managers of the Nation’s economy, said without moderation of demands on USD, the CBN has no magic wand to hurriedly get Naira stabilized.

He however informed members of the committee that series of measures put in place by the apex bank recently are yielding results with inflow of about $1b into the economy.

He said : The Nigerian foreign exchange market is currently facing increased demand pressures, causing a continuous decline in the value of the naira. Factors contributing to this situation include speculative forex demand, inadequate forex supply increased capital outflows, and excess liquidity.

Aside the CBN Governor, top government functionaries like the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun, Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar, also made presentations based on questions asked by the Senators on the State of the Economy.

Senator Sani Musa who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance in series of posers fired at the Ministers and CBN Governor, queried the $3.3billion collected as loan to rescue Naira, since expected positive effects are not being felt, months after.

But the Chairman of Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru in his remarks, told the CBN governor to ensure proper handshake between Monetary and Fiscal Policies .

He specifically, urged the CBN governor to make available to the committee, audited account of the apex bank and its Budget.

By James Itodo, Edited By Grace Namiji