Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has officially devalued the naira to 410.25/$ after the country’s currency defied all interventions to retain its value.
Experts, in reaction, have said that the last resort employed by the CBN to adopt the NAFEX Investor & Exporter forex window rate of N410.25 as its official exchange rate to the dollar would lead to inflation and increase the poverty level in the country.
The CBN confirmed the new official rate on its website after it had removed N379/$ earlier in May.
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.
“In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from 305/$ to 360/$ and now hovers around N410/$,” he had said.
A former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, said the move would lead to imported inflation because importers would get more expensive forex from the Bureau de Change.
“Prices of goods and services will keep on going up; inflation will keep on going up because anyone who is importing, either raw material or finished goods, the prices will be very high.
“The agric sector that is supposed to be cushioning the situation, the people cannot do anything because of the insecurity issues. They cannot go to farm; so we are unable to take advantage of the comparative advantage in agriculture because of activities of bandits.”