The House of Representatives has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement monetary policy adjustments to stabilise the naira, which has been on persistent depreciation against the dollar and other foreign currencies overtime.
The apex bank has also been charged to address speculative activities in the forex market, and increase the withdrawal limit of the naira to reduce the pressure on the dollar and other foreign currencies.
The House in its resolution on a motion on the development by Hon. Ismaila Haruna Dabo, Tuesday, also urged the Federal Government to formulate policies and structural reforms to reduce corruption, and promote economic diversification within the nation’s economy.
While urging the government to promote exportation and reduce importation by enhancing foreign investors’ confidence on its Fiscal and Monetary Policies, the House mandated its Committees on Banking Regulations and National Security and Intelligence to interface with the CBN to ensure compliance, as well to investigate the use of the US dollar as legal tender for domestic transactions.
In his motion on need for the CBN to address the impact of the failing naira against the dollar and other currencies on the Nigerian economy, Dabo said in June 2023, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmad Tinubu through the Central Bank of Nigeria announced changes to the country’s foreign exchange market, for exchange rates to be determined by market forces, and not the CBN.
“The President’s intention is to allow market forces to determine naira value, but the alarming exchange rate has impacted Nigeria’s economy, causing untold hardship due to increased demand for dollars and a dollar shortage,” he said.
Several members spoke in support of the motion. In his submissions, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, described the motion as very timely, and that “the mover must be commended for the courage”, stressing that the CBN was expected to achieve stability of the financial system.
“Today, flights by foreign airlines are charged in dollars. In real estate businesses across the country, they are charging in dollars. This is criminal. Some private schools are collecting fees in dollar. This must be looked into,” he said.
Also speaking, Hon. Mark Obeta said it time that we need to encourage agriculture seriously by all means, saying “we depend too much on import.”
According to Hon. Bamidele Salam, most policies that work elsewhere are having difficulties in Nigeria, describing floating of the naira as brainchild of renowned economists, expressing surprise over why CBN was yet to make any policy statement on the development until now. “We are in an emergency situation,” he stated.
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