Nigeria’s central bank calls forex policy critics ‘unpatriotic’

ABUJA The Central Bank of Nigeria hit out at critics of its foreign exchange policy, describing them as “unpatriotic” in a statement released Friday.

Nigeria’s government has come under intense criticism for propping up the naira at 305-315 to the dollar and introducing tight capital controls in response to the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

The policies have led to a foreign exchange shortage, with many local businesses being forced to buy dollars on the black market, where the rate is scraping 490 to the dollar.

“Intelligence reports at the disposal of the bank reveal the involvement of some unpatriotic elements funding the push to have the CBN and the federal government reverse its forex policy,” said the bank’s spokesman Isaac Okorafor.

Okorafor said that a weak naira would only hurt the country’s poor, adding that the bank was committed to ensuring that “the masses of our country’s low income earners are protected from the vagaries of high naira depreciation”.

The ratings agency Fitch downgraded the outlook on Nigeria’s long-term debt this week, citing “tight foreign exchange liquidity” as an impediment to growth.

In a note sent to investors, Standard Chartered Bank economist Razia Khan said that it was unlikely that the foreign exchange market would be liberalised soon. News 24