CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele has said the apex bank will consider the advice of the International Monetary Fund to review its exchange rate policies once Nigeria deepens local production of goods and services. He said, “When we raised the issue of over 43 items, it had an impact on exchange rates. And what we are doing is to put in place some intervention mechanisms to regulate the exchange rate. As long as demand for foreign exchange exceeds supply, we will continue to have these challenges.
Some demand have been put on management policies and the policies will be reviewed. But we want to deepen the production of these items in Nigeria before we begin to review them,” Emefiele explained.
He said the IMF demonstrated in 2020, when the Risk-free rates (RFR) to all countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which Nigeria benefited about $3.4 billion. “In 2021, we received another fund of over $3 billion under special drawing rights. Our resolution at the IMF is that we always want them to understand our peculiar issues.”
He also addressed the recent moves by airlines to receive payments for international flights in dollars. “I have addressed this during Easter week. It is illegal to sell air tickets in dollars because it will polarize the economy. And they have withdrawn that so I urge people to continue their business as it were.”
