daniel chigunwe
CBNC Africa
Nigeria is expected to float its naira currency later today, fulfilling one of President Bola Tinubu’s key election pledges, two weeks after taking office.
FIM Partners’ Head of Macro Strategy Charlie Robertson told CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch show that he had heard that the exchange rate unification would be happening later today.
The move strikes Nigeria’s three exchange rates off the markets, ending a near decade long battle to maintain a hard peg that analysts say has hobbled economic growth and made Africa’s largest economy uncompetitive.
Nigeria’s BusinessDay newspaper reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Investors’ and Exporters Window’s (I&E) rate slumped to between N750 -N755/$. However the central bank itself was still quoting N463/$ as the I&E rate with a June 9 date.
The World Bank says Nigeria’s growth has been curtailed by foreign exchange shortages and a lack of competitiveness due to protectionist measures imposed by governments through the years in a bid to shield local companies.
Bongani Ndlovu