The federal government announced on Tuesday that the efforts of the Yemi Cardoso-led Central Bank of Nigeria to stabilize the naira are in line with President Bola Tinubu’s strategy to eliminate corrupt practices in the foreign exchange market.
The presidency also promised to keep fighting against illegal activities and assured Nigerians that the naira would strengthen, resulting in lower prices for essential goods by the first quarter of 2025.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, made these statements in response to recent actions taken by the central bank to stop the decline of the naira and restore its true value.
Thanks to various measures implemented by the CBN, the naira has improved from 1,900/dollar in late February to nearly 1,200/dollar on Tuesday in the parallel market.
Speaking to The PUNCH, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President Tinubu “has been very consistent in his view that the labour pains felt by our people and the incredible sacrifices made by our people over the past 10 months would be rewarded across the board.”
Consequently, “The President’s multi-faceted approach to ridding the nation’s foreign exchange market of malign actors and sharp practices have provided a platform for the sustainable strengthening of our national currency against all global currencies and this is what we are seeing,” he said.
“But there is still much work to be done and this is not a time for celebration. It is a time for doubling down and working harder to ensure that inflation is sustainably brought down in short order and that consumer protecting regulatory agencies step up enforcement to ensure that our people are not short-changed by enterprises that fail to reflect the prevailing exchange rates on the pricing of goods and services across the board,” he added.