Emefiele said this at the 32nd Seminar
organised by the CBN, for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors, on
Thursday in Akure, Ondo.
His message was delivered virtually by the
Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, CBN, Mr Edward Adamu.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports
that the seminar has, “Exchange Rate Management and Economic Diversification in
Nigeria: The ‘PAVE’ Option,” as a theme.
“As a result of our demand management
policy, the naira has remained largely stable at the I & E window,
particularly since the discontinuation of FX allocation to Bureau De Change
operators along with the convergence between the CBN and NAFEX rates.
“Banks are now able to meet the demands of
their customers seeking forex for SMEs, school fees, medical and PTAs,”
Emefiele said.
He said that the Bank established an
Investors and Exporters Window (I&E) to allow for purchase and sale of FX
at prevailing market rate.
According to CBN, in 2021, the naira
maintained relative stability at N411.50/ US$ in August but depreciated to
N414.33/US$ in Dec. 2021.
As of Feb 2022, the exchange rate stood at
N416.98/US$.
The CBN for quite some time now has
operated a managed float exchange rate system.
Under the system, in line with its exchange
rate stability mandate, it has strived to intervene in the market by supplying
foreign exchange.
Emefiele listed other measures taken by the
CBN that had yielded results.
He said that they include partnerships with
commercial banks to go after Nigerians who falsely bought dollars under the
pretense of traveling abroad and ended up roundtripping.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria had also
sanctioned Bureau De Change (BDC) operators for illegal forex trading and
discontinued the sale of forex to the Bureau operators in Nigeria.
“In addition, licensing of new BDCs was
suspended. The CBN also introduced the ‘Naira 4 Dollar Scheme’ to encourage
diaspora remittances.”
He said that remittance inflows had been
supported by the ‘Naira for Dollar’ scheme, and there had been a surge in the
inflows.
“It is heartening to note that these
policies are yielding positive results in terms of meeting genuine demand for
foreign exchange and exchange rate stability,” he said.
Emefiele said the seminar had continued to
deepen the knowledge and understanding of Business Editors and Financial
Correspondents about CBN’s policies and initiatives.
He said that editors and finance correspondents
were expected to play a critical role in public sensitisation towards the
success of reform efforts.
He said the theme of the seminar was very
pertinent (NAN)