A former presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress, Kingsley Moghalu, has frowned at the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, to redesign certain denominations of the Naira, amid galloping inflation.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, made the announcement on Wednesday, October 26.
Reacting, the former Deputy Governor of the CBN, in a Twitter thread hours before the official redesign announcement, said the CBN should obsess less on maintaining an artificial value of the currency and focus on a truly productive economy that exports ever more value-added products.
“A fixed exchange rate that overvalues the Naira is artificial because it’s not backed by the value of our exports. It promotes an import economy and leads to dollar scarcity. The constant depreciation of the Naira in the parallel market, therefore, stokes inflation.
“@NigeriaGov and @cenbank should obsess less on maintaining an artificial value of our currency and focus on a truly productive economy that exports ever more value-added products. No need to ban imports. It doesn’t work and only creates smuggling.
“Just use higher tariff rates that make imports expensive, and create incentives for local manufacturers to be more competitive vis a vis imports from China etc. The rich can afford imported champagne. The average Nigerian can buy locally-produced goods.
“A Naira that’s bought and sold at natural market prices will also attract massive amounts of foreign currency investment into our country. The combination of such investment and the dollars we earn from exports will eventually strengthen the Naira to its natural value. Multiple exchange rates MUST be abolished for the Naira to thrive.
“All this, of course, requires a truly independent and professional central bank. Glad leading presidential candidates @atiku @PeterObi and @officialABAT are all thinking about this matter. It’s fundamental for realigning the economy to create more wealth for Nigeria & Nigerians,” he tweeted.