The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday unified all exchange rates within the economy into the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
The CBN said all segments of the foreign exchange market are now collapsed into the I&E window.
It added that applications for medicals, school fees, Business Travel Allowance/Personal Travel Allowance and SMEs would continue to be processed through the I&E window.
Experts have said the policy will remove corruption, increase Forex inflow and boost economic development.
The apex bank action is in line with the directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his inauguration day speech, which was yet to be carried out by suspended CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele before he was edged out of office last week.
Emefiele is currently under probe for his conduct during his nine years in office.
Under Emefiele, the CBN resisted the pressure from World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the naira should be floated to determine its real value and eliminate the corruption embedded in the multiple exchange rates regime.
“Proscription of trading limits on oversold FX positions with permission to hedge short positions with OTC futures limits on overbought positions shall be zero.
“Re-introduction of order-based two-way quotes, with bid-ask spread of N1. All transactions shall be cleared by a Central Counter Party (CCP).
“Re-introduction of Order Book to ensure transparency of orders and seamless execution of trades.
“The operational hours of trades shall be from 9 am to 4 pm, Nigeria time,” the circular said.
Also, there is a cessation of the RT200 Rebate Scheme and the Naira4Dollar Remittance Scheme, with effect from 30 June 2023.
Market-driven naira value excites financial experts
The Finance and economic experts, who welcomed the floating of the Naira are the President, the Association of Capital Market Academics, Prof. Uche Uwaleke; Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE], Mr Muda Yusuf; Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader, PwC, Taiwo Oyedele; Chief Economist, PwC Nigeria, Andrew Neven; Managing Director, Arthur Steven Asset Management, Mr Olatunde Amolegbe; and President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe.
Others are Senior Credit Research Analyst, REDD Intelligence, Mark Bohlund; former Executive Director, Keystone Bank, Richard Obire; Director General, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadiri; Financial analysts, Renaissance Capital, Charles Robertson; and Managing Director, SD & D Capital Management Limited, Mr Gbolade Idakolo.
Uwaleke, who said that the unification of exchange rates would lead to “ a more transparent forex market,” however, advised the CBN to implement the policy ”in a way that it would not cause massive distortions in the general price level.”
He said: “The unification of exchange rates should not be a one-step process but should be implemented over a period of time however short it may be. Empirical evidence suggests that reforms are more successful when they are sequenced and implemented in phases. This is against the backdrop of the oil subsidy removal which, taken together, can result in galloping inflation and rising poverty levels. So, while fiscal and monetary policy reforms are welcome, absolute care should be taken to strike the right balance and minimise their unintended consequences.”
Yusuf on the other hand argued that the policy would facilitate the mopping up of naira liquidity in the economy in the short to medium term.
That, according to him, will impact positively on inflation outlook and deepen the autonomous foreign exchange market through the liberalisation of inflows from export proceeds, diaspora remittances, multinational oil companies, diplomatic missions, etc.
He added that “the erstwhile foreign exchange policy regime was for all practical purposes, a fixed exchange rate regime that created distortions and negative outcomes.”
Yusuf said the distortions included “widening the gap between the official, other multiple windows and parallel market exchange rates, collapse of liquidity in the foreign exchange market and high demand for forex .”
He added: “It is important to reiterate that this is not a devaluation policy, it is a normalisation of the foreign exchange policy regime and an adjustment of rate to reflect the fundamentals of demand and supply. It would be dynamic, and the naira will appreciate or depreciate depending on the fundamentals.”
The expert advised the CBN to ”position itself for periodic intervention in the forex market, as and when necessary.”
Credit: The Nation
