In a bid to readjust Nigeria’s fiscal policies to conform with the dwindling oil price in the global market, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has announced a new official naira-to-dollar exchange rate in a move that has forced down the Nigerian currency by N13.
The apex bank devalued the naira at its monetary policy committee, MPC, meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, where it also reviewed Nigeria’s monetary policy rate which determines lending rate for the country’s economy from 12 per cent to 13 per cent.
The CBN announced that the naira will now exchange officially at N168 to a dollar as against an earlier N155. It asserted that the decision to lower the value of naira against the dollar is aimed at strengthening the currency.
While retaining public sector cash reserve ratio at 75 percent, the MPC however moved the private cash reserve ratio from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
In his remarks, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele admitted the continued drop in global crude oil prices and reiterated the call on the government and the National Assembly to speed up the process towards the immediate passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, which has pending for the past two years.
While urging Nigerians to avoid speculative activities that drive inflation, the CBN governor assured that the bank remained committed to maintaining financial system stability.
The MPC tasked the federal government to take advantage of the declining oil prices to cut down on subsidies on supply of petroleum products in the 2015 budget while urging states and local governments to increase its efforts in boosting internally generated revenue and reduce reliance on revenues from the federation account.
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