Nigeria is on the verge of making a decision to allow its local currency to trade more freely against the dollar, three people familiar with the matter said.
A discussion on letting the currency trade more freely is ongoing at the central bank, a senior banking official said, asking not to be named because the deliberations are private. Directives on the currency could be issued later today or latest tomorrow, the person said.
Local banks are already being told that going forward, the naira’s exchange rate against the dollar will be determined through supply and demand rather than by the central bank, another senior banking official said. The bankers said they’re expecting a strong depreciation of the naira soon at the official spot window, where the currency traded at 472.18 per dollar as of 11:28 a.m. in London.
The naira has been falling to record lows since Friday after central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele was suspended by the nation’s new president, Bola Tinubu. Under Emefiele, Nigeria’s central bank offered the US dollar through several windows at tightly controlled rates, with little liquidity, to businesses and individuals.
That forced many to the black market, where the dollar traded more freely but at about a 60% premium to the official rate.
Wale Edun, an influential member of Tinubu’s advisory board, told Bloomberg by phone on Monday that the unification of exchange rates was “imminent.” Folashodun Shonubi, a deputy governor in charge of operations at the bank, has been acting as governor since Emefiele’s ouster on Friday.
Author: Sujata Rao, Anthony Osae-Brown and Emele Onu
