The acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Fola Shonubi, on Monday warned speculators of potential losses as they implement a new policy to stabilize the exchange rate regime.
Shonubi explained that the CBN has come up with a yet-to-be-announced policy that will eliminate the disparities between the official and black market rates.
Sonubi, spoke with journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Monday.
Sonubi said Tinubu was worried about the consistent fall of the naira against the dollar, hence efforts would be made to curb the situation.
The acting CBN governor said the fluctuations in the parallel market are not solely driven by economic factors, but also speculative demand.
“Mr. President was very concerned or is very very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market and one of the things we discussed was what could be done to stabilize and improve the liquidity in the market.
“And also, the goings on in the other markets including the parallel markets, he is concerned about its impact on the average person. Unfortunately a lot of activities that we do which are purely local are still referenced to exchange rates in the parallel market.”
“We’ve discussed and I’ve shared with him what we’re doing to improve the supply, if you look at the official market you find that that market has been fairly stable and the spreads of the difference have not fluctuated as much we do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market is driven by pure economic demand and supply but are topped by speculative demand from people.”
“Some of the plans and strategies which I’m not at liberty to share with you may sooner rather than later cost the speculators, so they should be careful because we believe the things we are doing when they come to fruition may result in significant losses to them.”
“But my presence here is more about the concerns the president has and his need to know that we are doing something about it assurances of which I have given him totally.
