Naira Devaluation: Of what benefit to the economy?
Reactions have continued to trail last week's devaluation of the nation’s currency-Naira-particularly its impact on an import dependent economy, with Nigerians watching with keen interest as to how this will bring respite to the currency, writes ALEXANDER CHIEJINA Shortly after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Nigeria and spoke with the government, private sector, banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in March this year, the Fund revealed that the nation’s currency- the Naira was overvalued. The view by the IMF came on the heels of a report it released berating the Apex Bank for running down the external reserves to prop up the Naira rather than allowing it to depreciate in tandem with existing realities on the ground. The Fund stated that the CBN was not in a position to fund the foreign exchange market the way it is doing- dipping into already dwindling reserves -and that a managed depreciation of the Naira is much more preferable to an unavoidable fre...