Group lauds Tinubu on naira appreciation against dollar

The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has described the appreciation of naira against the dollar as a reflection of the bouquet of positive policies introduced by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr Niyi Akinsiju, the Chairman, IMPI, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

“We feel enthused over the acknowledgement across the country of the reversal of the ill-fortunes of Nigeria’s national currency, the naira, by the CBN.

“We have observed that the naira is gradually stabilising against mainstream foreign currencies, especially the Dollar over the last three weeks.

“It has appreciated from a low of N1,900 to dollar on Tuesday, Feb. 20 to a high of N1,345 on Tuesday, March 26 at the Bureau de’ Change (BDC) arm of the foreign exchange market.

“By our understanding of open market currency float regime as adopted by the federal government and the CBN, accomplishing this rate reversal within a short span of time, is a feat that is truly worthy of celebration,” Akinsiju said.

He added: “As the CBN adeptly leads the country through the equivalent of an economic minefield, it is instructive to note that the country’s policy makers in both the fiscal and monetary spheres determinedly asserted on orthodox modelling for which it has been hailed across the globe.

“Unlike its African peer, Egypt, which is compelled to reform by the dictates of IMF and associated externalities, the Nigerian context speaks to a jurisdiction.

“Willing and ready to adopt a string of IMF conditionalities for loan, but only on its own terms which for us is an assurance of independence of action which establishes the rights and privileges of a sovereign nation.”

He said that the resurgence of naira in the forex market was as a result of CBN’s directive to banks on Net Open Position (NOP) as well as the clearing of the more than 7 billion dollars foreign exchange backlog due to foreign investors.

He cited CBN’s new status as the official revenue collection entity of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), saying the country’s monetary and fiscal policy authority had done a good job.

He added that the sale of dollars to BDCs at the rate of N1,251 per dollar was a clear indication of the possibility of increase in the value of the naira over the next few months.