ECONOMIC and finance experts have made further suggestions that focus precisely on how to effectively manage the Nigerian exchange rate regime in order to bring about stability.
Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Moghalu said that the naira/dollar exchange rate rose to N470 from N500 after the CBN decided to let Nigerians receive dollar remittances in dollars demonstrates what some experts including him have been saying: float the naira, dollars will “invade” us.
According to him, the Naira will find true value, and it won’t be N500 to one dollar if floated.
Specifically, Moghalu through his Twitter handle on Friday stated: “And as I have said before, a float must be accompanied by robust trade policy to protect infant industries that will manufacture for export. That’s the trick. “Between this and the attraction to potential investors of an economy with such a large market of 200 million, we will be ok.
“Protecting infant industries should not be by ‘bans’ of import or forex allocation. It should be by differential tariffs on imports that make local manufactures more economically sensible for the average Nigerian. The super-rich can import champagne. If they can pay, I don’t care.”
Similarly, the Chairman of Fidelity Bank Plc Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi suggested that CBN should have given recipients of dollar remittances the option of receiving either in Naira or Dollars.
His words: “While acknowledging that exchange rate management is a complex issue, it defies logic to have an asset (dollars) that people are willing to pay 500 naira for, and insist on selling it at 386 naira. You just create artificial scarcity and hence a black market.”
He reasoned that if recipients have options, it would force the banks to give out dollars at the rate that is equivalent to that of parallel make to discourage them from shifting demand to that segment of the market, thereby narrowing the gap between the official and unofficial rates.
The apex bank, in an effort to enable smooth implementation of its latest directive engaged with the commercial banks and the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to ensure that recipients of remittance inflows are able to receive their funds in foreign currencies.
In a chat with Nigerian Tribune, Chike-Obi said “the new diaspora remittances policy is a good one. The only problem is that CBN should have allowed the recipients the option of dollars or naira in any proportion desired by them. That would have solved most of these nagging issues while addressing the main objective.”
Another policy analyst, Amaka Anku said through her interaction with a lot of smart people, including inside CBN, she was reminded that CBN is playing the hand it has been dealt, which is managing inflation and foreign exchange supply in an “unproductive economy that does not export, which means poor supply of hard currency and no demand for local currency.”
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