The Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has disclosed that the federal government is planning to ensure that N750 is exchanged for the dollar by December this year.
Recall that Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said last week that the federal government is expecting $10 billion Forex injection to clear the current backlogue responsible for the volatility being experienced in the market.
Not a few market analysts insist that this is impossible considering the current volatility in the Forex market which has pushed up the value of the American currency in both parallel and I & E windows.
The Nigerian currency reached its lowest point last week after the dollar was traded for N1, 350 at the parallel market.
But the tax reform boss told Bloomberg that plans are in the offing to ensure that naira gained to N750 to the dollar within two months.
According to Oyedele, the plan includes
a crackdown on illegal currency trading, to reduce the 45 percent gap between the official and black-market rate the dollar is sold in the country.
He explained that the government would also clear backlogs of dollar demand estimated at around $6.7 billion, bolster the naira forward market, and set transparent rules for the operations of the official market.
The federal government also aims “ to expand the official market to include all legitimate transactions, while snuffing out the illicit “black market” for foreign currency, “ he said.
Oyedele also said, “We think all of that will happen before December, and maybe in a matter of a couple of weeks we will begin to see the results, such that before the end of the calendar year, naira should find its true value, not the one that is being done currently in the parallel market “
Edun had while responding to the falling value of the naira to the dollar said
the country was expecting about $10bn inflows in the nearest term, which would help to clear foreign exchange backlog and stabilise the naira
