The Federal Government
needs to ensure that the value of the naira against the United States dollar is
more “realistic,” the US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, has said.
She said the US
Government would raise the issue in talks with the Nigerian government
officials this week.
“Our recommendation is,
and we will have discussions about it …, that they should look at the exchange
rate and try to make the exchange rate more realistic to what the value of the
naira is to the dollar,” Reuters quoted
Thomas-Greenfield as telling an audience in Washington on Monday.
President Muhammadu
Buhari has insisted that he will not devalue the naira. He maintained that
devaluing the naira against the dollar would not benefit the poor.
The International
Monetary Fund and some stakeholders have, however, said the Federal Government
needs to devalue the naira in the face of the persistent pressure on the local
currency.
The slump in the price
of crude oil, Nigeria’s main foreign exchange earner, has put the economy under
stress as scarcity of forex continues to batter businesses and economic
activities.
No comments:
Post a Comment