THE GUARDIAN
• Says Citizens’ Appetite For Dollar, Foreign Goods Cause Of Currency’s Free Fall
• Reveals Apex Bank Has Halted Giving ‘Ways And Means’ To FG
• PANDEF, Yoruba Ronu, CSOs, Others Warn Tinubu Against Ignoring Protests Over Biting Hardship
• Say Nigerians Are Truly Hungry And Angry
Against the backdrop of recent protests in Kano and Niger states over the level of suffering Nigerians are currently experiencing, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and some other stakeholders have warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu against joking with the development.
However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso; Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun; Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, yesterday, explained in details the steps being taken by the Federal Government to stabilise the economy by addressing the spiraling inflation and volatile foreign exchange regime that have pushed millions of Nigerians below the poverty line.
The top government officials spoke during an interactive session with the Senate Committees on Finance, Appropriations, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, at the Senate Chamber, National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
Cardoso, who was the first to address the senators, attributed the weakness of the naira to the insatiable appetite of Nigerians for the dollar and foreign goods, stressing that without moderation for demands for USD, the CBN has no magic wand to stop the free fall of the naira. He has, therefore, urged Nigerians, especially the elite, to reduce their appetite for the dollar, consumption and usage of foreign goods; and patronage of foreign schools and hospitals.
He, however, informed members of the committees that series of measures put in place by the apex bank recently to strengthen the economy were yielding results, disclosing that there has been an inflow of about $1billion into the economy.He also indicated that the Nigerian foreign exchange market is currently facing increased demand pressures, causing a continuous decline in the value of the naira. He told the lawmakers that the apex financial institution in the country had no magic wand to hurriedly get the naira stabilised. He words: “The Nigerian foreign exchange market is currently facing increased demand pressures, causing a continuous decline in the value of the naira.
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