CBN Speaks On Devaluation Of Naira To N631/$1

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied a media report that it has devalued the naira to N631 per dollar at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window.

In a tweet via its verified Twitter handle on Thursday morning, the apex bank said it did not devalue the Naira, adding that the news was fake.

The tweet reads: “CBN did not devalue the Naira!”

CBN did not devalue the Naira! pic.twitter.com/GDz8uXVVwQ

— Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) June 1, 2023

Minutes later, in a statement issued by its Director of Corporate Communications, Isa Abdulmumin, the CBN said the report is the imagination of the newspaper.

The apex bank, therefore, urged the public to ignore the news report in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.

The statement reads: “We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright falsehoods and destabilising innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.

“The public is, hereby, advised to ignore the news report in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.

“Media practitioners are advised to verify their facts from the Central Bank of Nigeria before publishing in order not to misinform the public.”

A national daily earlier reported that the CBN had devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day.

It said the devaluation came 48 hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his inaugural speech on Monday, said the apex bank must work towards a unified exchange rate country to stimulate the economy.

Following the statement, President Tinubu met with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja over the issue of the exchange rate.

The newspaper reported that at the resumption of the weekly bidding for foreign exchange, the apex bank sold the spot rate to banks on behalf of their customers at N631 to a dollar and most bidders got the full amount they requested.

One of the customers told the newspaper that they applied and that their request was fully granted at N631 as against N461.6. The move has also seen prices at the parallel market trend downwards.

Daily Trust also reported that prices dropped from N750 to a dollar in the early hours of yesterday to N745 by evening in Abuja and Kano respectively.

The naira weakened in the parallel market to the lowest level in a year on expectations of a possible change in exchange rate management after Tinubu takes office on Monday.

The naira dropped to N762 a dollar on Friday from 775 the previous day in the unauthorized market in Lagos, said Umar Salisu, a BDC operator who tracks the data in the nation’s commercial capital.

The unit has weakened steadily in the parallel market since last week after stabilizing for most of this year, the newspaper reports.