The naira is currently trading at N750-N755 per dollar at the investors and exporters, I&E, window.
The development comes barely a month after the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN denied reports that it had devalued the naira.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a news report… titled “CBN Devalues Naira To 630/31
“We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this moming (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while, Isa Abdulmumin, CBN Acting Director, Corporate Communications said two weeks ago in a statement.
According to TheCable, the Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN, has directed commercial banks to sell forex freely at market-determined rates.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had during his inuaguration disclosed his government’s readiness to unify the Naira exchange rate.
“Monetary policy needs a thorough housecleaning. The Central Bank must work towards a unified exchange rate. This will direct funds away from arbitrage into meaningful investment in the plant, equipment and jobs that power the real economy.
Interest rates need to be reduced to increase investment and consumer purchasing in ways that sustain the economy at a higher level,” Tinubu said on May 29.
The market rate is said to be a “willing buyer, willing seller” arrangement.
This implies that Nigeria has eased its control of the naira, allowing the local currency to freely float.
A free-floating exchange rate occurs when a government allows the exchange rate to be determined purely by market forces and there is no attempt to ask the central bank to influence the external value of the exchange rate.
