Naira adjusted to N410 to a dollar at official market, says CBN Governor 

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The naira has dropped at the official market to N410/$1, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has confirmed.

The disclosure was made by Emefiele, during his speech at a special summit on the economy organized by Vanguard Newspaper in collaboration with the CBN and Chief Executive Officers of banks on Friday, February 26, 2021, in Lagos.

This development according to reports will be consolidated by a conscious effort by the Federal Government to increase exports in order to earn foreign exchange to boost dollar supply.

Emefiele had said that the drop in crude oil earnings and the associated reduction in foreign portfolio inflows significantly affected the supply of foreign exchange into Nigeria.

He said, “In order to adjust for the decrease in the supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from N305/$ to N360/$ and now hovers around N410/$.’’

In his remarks, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, who participated at the event said the Federal Government would address the shortage of foreign exchange.

Osinbajo said, “We have accepted that we need to take a more dramatic step to boost exports in order to earn foreign exchange.’’

While pointing out that the government would combine limited resources to expand the supply base, Osibanjo said the Federal Government would ensure the expansion and promotion of export trading houses, ensure that companies in the special economic zones exported most of their productions, as well as expand the export grant scheme.

Recall that about two weeks ago, the exchange rate between the naira and the dollar had been adjusted at the Investors and Exporters window where forex is traded officially as it had closed above N400/$1 since the second week in February.

An exchange rate of N400 and above is perhaps a confirmation that official exchange rates across the multiple windows are crawling towards the target Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) rates approved by the CBN.

The CBN had maybe set the stage for the recent depreciation of the naira when, on February 2, it revised its one-year Non-Deliverable Forwards (NDF) for which it intends to settle foreign exchange future contracts.

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