*No, it’s not true – Spokesman
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Thursday, was reported to have devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day, according to Daily Trust.
The devaluation report, the Abuja based newspaper exclusively said, came 48 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the plans of the federal government to unify the country’s exchange rate to stimulate the economy.
In his inaugural speech, minutes after he was inaugurated as the 16th president of the country, Tinubu said, “Monetary policy needs a thorough house cleaning. 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.”
There has been a wide margin between the I&E window and the parallel market, a situation that experts say encouraged round-tripping with Bureau de Change operators, the report said, noting that, “The situation has seen the CBN devise several measures to check the practice as well as completely stop the sale of forex to BDCs.”
On Tuesday, President Tinubu met with the top echelon of strategic institutions including the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the presidential villa.
At the end of the meeting, neither the presidency nor Emefiele disclosed the outcome of the briefing. It was, however, gathered that the issue of the exchange rate was discussed at the meeting.
The President also met with the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari. The removal of petrol subsidy was discussed, it was gathered.
Daily Trust finding, however, revealed that at the resumption of the weekly bidding for foreign exchange, the apex bank sold the spot rate to banks on behalf of their customers at N631 to a dollar and most bidders got the full amount they requested.
The paper reported that it gathered from customers who said they applied and that their request was fully granted at N631 as against N461.6.
Report is fake – CBN
However, the CBN later debunked the claim that it had devalued the naira and this, it did, via a statement signed by Acting Director Corporate Communications, Isah AbdulMumin.
AbdulMumin said the dollar traded at N465/$1 contrary to the media reports.
The statement partly read, “We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright falsehood and destabilising innuendos, reflecting potentially wilful ignorance of the said medium as to the working of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’& Exporters’(I&E) window, which traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.”
