CBN restates stance against naira devaluation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated its resolve not to further devalue the naira.
Speaking in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of his investiture as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria in Lagos at the weekend, the Deputy Governor (Corporate Services), CBN, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, said the official position of the central bank on naira devaluation had been made public.
“We all are aware of the official position of the central bank about this, that there would not be devaluation for now,” Adelabu said.
When asked if the central bank would consider the advice by the Emir of Kano and a former CBN Governor, Muhammad Sanusi II, calling on the central bank to devalue the nation’s currency, Adelabu said: “Like I mentioned earlier, we have made our official position known about naira devaluation to the public, there could be comments from different people, but we have stated our official position on that.”
Speaking earlier, the deputy CBN governor said the nation was feeling the effect of the slump in crude oil price, adding that Nigeria’s policy makers failed to diversify the economy during the time of oil price boom.
This, he said was responsible for the pains being felt in the country.
“We all know what is happening globally, and because we don’t operate in an island, what is happening in the global economy is affecting our economy, our communities and even the families.
“The dwindling price of oil and the reduction in oil production are all affecting us and have led to a drop in the country’s revenue.
“Because we rely so much on oil as the primary revenue earner for the country, we have seen where we have found ourselves. Failure to plan, they say is planning to fail. We lost the opportunity to diversify when oil price was high.
“It is periods of boom that we were supposed to have diversified our economy, instead we did not. We thought it was going to remain unchanged forever. Now that we are learning the hard way, I believe we don’t need any teacher to teach us,” he added.
Adelabu also stressed the need for growth of the agriculture sector and for Nigerians to start patronising local products so as to stimulate economic growth.
It could be recalled that the Emir of Kano last week advised the CBN and the presidency to reconsider their stance against naira devaluation, saying the country could not continue to live “in denial.” He also called for a complete removal of the subsidy on fuel.