By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has officially devalued the Naira as expected amid moves by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to unify the exchange rate, with the rates expected to jump to a high of N750 to N800 per Dollar.
Directives on the currency could be issued later today or latest tomorrow by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is tidying up plans to make an announcement soon.
According to several reports, commercial banks are expected to start trading FX freely, meaning that the rate of the greenback will now be determined by supply and demand rather than the CBN.
Business Post understands that a strong depreciation of the Naira is soon at the official spot window, where the currency traded at N471.67/$1 on Tuesday.
The Naira had appreciated across the spot market, Peer-2-Peer, and the black markets after CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, was suspended by President Tinubu on Friday night.
Under Mr Emefiele, the central bank offered the US Dollar through several windows at tightly controlled rates, with little liquidity, to businesses and individuals.
He was arrested over the weekend for unnamed reasons, days after the new president castigated the handling of the nation’s economy under his leadership.
President Tinubu had announced plans to unify the exchange rate during his inauguration speech.
He said the exchange rate in the country would become one in order to direct funds into meaningful investments, adding that a unified exchange rate would help in creating jobs that would power the economy.
He also added that interest rates would be reduced to increase investment in such a way that would sustain the economy at a higher level.
Modupe Gbadeyanka