The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has denied any plans to introduce a new naira policy that would cause the dollar exchange rate to crash to N1.25 kobo.
A report circulating online on Wednesday claimed that Nigeria’s apex bank is considering a new foreign exchange policy.
The policy is expected to be introduced in November 2023, and aims to “better anchor inflation expectations and make for easier conversion to other major currencies”.
The report also suggests that the policy will address the issue of currency substitution, and eliminate higher denomination notes with lower purchasing power. As of Tuesday, the exchange rate was N742.10 to the dollar at Nigeria’s official FX market, the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window.
Reacting to the report in a statement on Wednesday — accompanied by a screenshot of the report — the CBN said the publication is false.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria would like to bring to your attention that the attached message currently circulating on social media is false and should be disregarded,” the apex bank stated via a post on its X page.
The Nigerian government has implemented a series of measures to overhaul the foreign exchange market since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023. Among these measures are the removal of restrictions on deposits into domiciliary accounts and the unification of the multiple exchange rate systems, which had led to the devaluation of the naira.
As a result of the devaluation, the price of the dollar in the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window of the official market has increased from N461.50/$1 on June 13 to N742.10/$1 as of Tuesday.
