The dollar has risen more than 100% to the naira since 2015 and seems poised to continue value addition against the naira. With the currency now selling for N430.33 officially and the black market offering it at N710; it is only a matter of time before a dollar will exchange for N1, 000.
There needs to be a coordinated effort by the fiscal and monetary authorities toward achieving an export-led industrial economy; as the lasting solution to the naira problem.
There was hope early in the life of this administration that the equation will move in favour of the naira down the line. The president was a tad optimist when he declared that he was going to ensure parity in no distant time.
But seven years down the line, the value of the naira is gravely eroded. The prevailing economic conditions suggest that the drop in naira value will continue; and we will be lucky if the exchange rate does not jump to N1000 to a dollar by 2023.
As it stands, the Central Bank can look into its war chest of $36 billion reserves to defend the naira but that is likely to run out if earnings from oil do not improve dramatically or rather, oil earnings are not cancelled out by imports of refined products. This goes to say that a short-term fix can only come from rising oil prices.