Tobi Adebayo
The Senate has said that it would invite the Governor of Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele over the devaluation of naira.
This was made known during plenary on Wednesday.
The Senators had raised concerns over the conversion rate of naira to the dollar which had risen to N700.
The lawmakers stated further that the situation called for immediate attention as it was causing hardship on Nigerians.
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The Senate therefore mandated the Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions to assess the impact of CBN intervention funds meant to support critical sectors of the economy.
The resolutions were reached by lawmakers after the upper chamber considered a motion sponsored by Sen.Olubunmi Adetunmbi (APC – Ekiti).
The motion was entitled, State of CBN Intervention Funds and Free Fall Of Naira.”
Rising under Order 41 and 51 of the Senate Standing Order, as amended, Adetunmbi decried Nigeria’s economic reality amid an urgent call for “extraordinary measures”.
He said that the CBN through its numerous multi-sectoral intervention funds, provided special funds to support critical sectors of the economy.
He explained that in view of such interventions, it had become necessary to assess the state of implementation and effectiveness of the funds deployed for the purpose.
He recalled that the CBN in 2021, placed an indefinite halt on forex bidding by Bureau de Change operators (BDCS) and importers over allegations of abuse and mismanagement.
He observed that the halt by the CBN resulted in a spike of the exchange rate.
According to Adetunmbi, the two instruments of Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) could only serve less than 20 per cent of the total forex demand by travelers and businesses.
He expressed worry that the import and export window meant to serve the forex needs of business giants, “has become a rare opportunity that only a privileged few can access.”
“These and a number of others have contributed to the excessive scarcity of forex in Nigeria today”, he added.
He noted that as at the 26th of July , the exchange rate in the autonomous segment (BDCS) of the foreign exchange market is N670 to one U.S. Dollar and projected to end at N1000 by end of the year based on the current rate of depreciation.
He, advised the Central Bank to take new measures to curb forex scarcity and address the sliding rate of Naira exchange.
In his contribution, Sen. Sani Musa (APC – Niger),faulted the Central Bank’s decision to halt foreign exchange biddings, thereby cutting off the parallel market – Bureau de change operators.
According to him, the attempt by the CBN to control the value of the naira with the continuous exclusion of BDCs would only lead to its further depreciation.
He, therefore, advised the apex bank to rather ensure the regulation and monitoring of the parallel market.
“What CBN used to do was to give out 10,000 dollars to each of these BDCs with a clear directive for it not to be sold above N470 as against the 419 dollars exchange rate.
“But today, nobody is determining where the rate is going and I can assure you we can’t have that solution because we are only importing, he said.
