“N1,700/$”: Atiku Attacks Tinubu’s Forex Policies, Offers Solution as Naira Crashes

• Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s government of lacking ideas on how to tackle the FX crisis in Nigeria
• Atiku said that the foreign exchange policies of the present government were hurriedly put in place
• He said the government has not offered any concrete ideas on how to bring the country out of the current crisis

Pascal Oparada has over a decade of experience covering Tech, Energy, Stocks, Investments, and Economy.

Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said that the way President Bola Tibubu’s government’s FX policy was hurriedly put together is the reason for the present state of things in Nigeria.

Atiku disclosed this on his X handle and insisted that even during a meeting last week to tackle the foreign exchange crisis and the problem of economic downturn, Tinubu could not show any concrete steps to solve the situation of the current fluctuation and poverty in the country.

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Atiku accuses Tinubu of not listening to ideas

The former vice president said that Tinubu had told Nigerians and experts telling him how to resolve the crisis. He and his team should not be distracted and be allowed to continue with their policies that have brought untold hardship to Nigerians.

Atiku said:

“The Government did not allow the CBN the independence to design and implement a sound FX Management Policy that would have dealt with such issues as increasing liquidity, curtailing/regulating demand, dealing with FX backlogs and rate convergence.

“I firmly believe that if and when the Government is ready to open itself to sound counsels, as well as control internal bleedings occasioned by corruption and poorly negotiated foreign loans, the Nigerian economy would begin to find a footing again.”

Atiku recommends solution

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According to him, he cannot keep quiet when the wrong policies of the administration continue to cause untold hardship in the economy, stating that the government has shown enough poverty of ideas to save the situation.

Atiku recommended measures to ease the pain in the country, adding that he had signed some commitment to rescue the country from the current economic crisis.

He said there was a plan to eliminate the multiple exchange rate windows, stating that the system only enriches opportunists, rent-seekers, intermediaries, arbitrageurs, and fraudsters.

“Operating a successful fixed exchange rate system would require sufficient FX reserves to defend the domestic currency at all times. But as is well known, Nigeria’s primary challenge is the persistent FX illiquidity occasioned by limited foreign exchange inflows.

“Without sufficient FX reserves, confidence in the Nigerian economy will remain low, and naira will remain under pressure. The economy will have no firepower to support its currency. Besides, a fixed-exchange-rate system is akin to running a subsidy regime,” Atiku said:

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He condemned the floating of the naira, stressing that the country would have let the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adopt a gradualist approach to FX management.

Atiku said:

A managed-floating system would have been a preferred option. The naira may fluctuate daily in such a system, but the CBN will control and stabilise its value. Such control will be exercised judiciously and responsibly, significantly to curve speculative activities.”

Naira crosses N1,500/$ in the official market

Legit.ng reported that The naira declined further against the US dollar in the official market on Friday, February 16, 2024, closing the week at N1,537.96 to a dollar as demand for the US greenback persists.

The depreciation comes amid a decline in forex turnover in the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which fell by 74% to $84.10 million.

The official and black markets witnessed a devaluation of the naira against the dollar, exacerbated by a surge in inflation, which hit a 17-year high in January 2024.

Source: Legit.ng