Posted by Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s foreign exchange strategy, claiming that its hurried execution and lack of meticulous preparation have resulted in recurrent economic crises.
Abubakar said on his X (previously Twitter) account that the country’s foreign exchange policy was responsible for many sorts of poverty and economic suffering.
According to Atiku, the government did not allow the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to establish and implement a competent foreign exchange management policy that would have addressed concerns such as raising liquidity, managing demand, and rate convergence.
The PDP presidential candidate in the general election stated that the incumbent government should be willing to listen to sound advice from the opposition and ask for assistance in mending the economy.
Atiku stated, “The government did not provide the CBN the independence to establish and implement a strong FX Management Policy that would have addressed concerns such as raising liquidity, curtailing/regulating demand, dealing with FX backlogs, and rate convergence.
“I firmly believe that if and when the Government is ready to open itself to sound counsels, as well as control internal bleedings occasioned by corruption and poorly negotiated foreign loans, the Nigerian economy would begin to find a footing again.”
Furthermore, the former vice president proposed several answers to the country’s developing foreign exchange crisis.
He believes that instead of a free-float foreign exchange regime, the government can pursue a managed-float strategy.
Atiku went on to say that the government should increase its foreign exchange reserves to encourage market liquidity.
“Nigeria’s biggest difficulty is continuous FX illiquidity caused by limited foreign exchange inflows into the nation. Without appropriate FX reserves, confidence in the Nigerian economy would stay low, and the Naira will be under pressure. The economy will lack firepower to support its currency.
“In simple terms, in such a system, the Naira’s value may vary on a daily basis, but the CBN will intervene to control and stabilize it. Such oversight will be implemented cautiously and responsibly, particularly to curtail speculative activities,” Atiku stated.