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| Nigeria in quagmire as Naira sinks further into the swamp of oblivion.Exchanges 377 to Dollar. Adeosun and Emefiele's jobs on the line. |
The naira yesterday exchanged at N377 to dollar in the parallel market, weaker than N373 on Wednesday after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) failed to intervene in the market, Signal reports.
At the interbank rate, the currency traded at N309 to dollar at noon, but later recovered to close at 292.40 on thin trades. The interbank market traded a total of $7.27 million.
The naira fell to an all-time low on dollar supply shortages.
Traders were expecting the central bank to intervene to ease dollar shortages, but that did not happen. The bank has not intervened for most of this week, they said. Instead it was mopping up naira liquidity to support the currency.
“Now that the market has adjusted upwards it seems people are comfortable and that’s why we are seeing some trades,” one trader told Reuters.
Meanwhile, this year’s Annual Meetings of the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) have been scheduled to hold in Abuja from August 15 to 19.
The meeting of the Assembly of Governors will be preceded by a technical committee and bureau meetings from August 15-17. On August 18, it would a symposium. It has as theme: “Unwinding unconventional monetary policies: Implications for monetary policy and financial stability in Africa.”
The event scheduled for the CBN Head Office, Central Area, Abuja will be declared open by President Muhammadu Buhari, while the keynote address will be delivered by Prof. Mario Draghi, the Governor, European Central Bank.
Speakers include former Kenyan Central Bank, Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, and his Mexican counterpart, Dr. Augustin Carstens.
The AACB was introduced on May 25, 1963, at the Summit Conference of African Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
African Heads of State and Government agreed to set up an Economic Committee to study monetary and financial issues with governments and in consultation with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
An insider informed the Biafran that Buhari is currently considering replacing the CBN governor and the Finance Minister. He is however in a dilemma as many people people he has approached are cautious in taking up the positions, with the economy in such a tattered state.
The Nigeria's Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, yesterday admitted that Nigeria’s economy is “technically on recession”.
She made the statement while briefing the senate on the economy of the country on Thursday.
When asked if the economy is on recession during the briefing, Adeosun said it was sad that the economy was technically stagnant.
She further affirmed that the Buhari-led government was aware that things are tough in the country. "Things are tough and We are not ignorant of that,” she said.
She spoke on efforts of the Federal Government towards diversification of the economy towards Agriculture.
"We are working on the recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture and we will come up with a plan in the next 30Days.
"We have spent N247.9Billion till date on Capital Expenditure".
Addressing Senator Godswill Akpabio question on subsidy, the Finance Minister said, "I can confirm that there is no more subsidy".
On the Bloomberg damning reports on the rating of the Nigeria currency, Adeosun said that there was no cause to be alarm over their rating, adding that everyone is entitled to their opinion.
She said, "We cannot begin to somersault when somebody from abroad says something or gives an opinion.
“I don’t see why Nigerians should panic when someone gives their opinion which they are entitled to, we must look at the fundamentals of the Nigeria economy which are – it remains strong if we continue to do what we are doing, continue to follow path of discipline and accountability. Then the economy will come out stronger.
Source: https://thewhistler.ng/story/nigeria-s-economy-is-on-recession-finance-minister-finally-admits
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