Mixed reactions trail CBN’s ‘Naira for dollar’ policy
By Tasie Theodore
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the recent policy announcement of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to the effect that the apex bank would pay an additional N5 to the beneficiaries of dollar remittances from abroad.
While this is clearly a move designed to encourage Nigerians outside the country to send more dollars into the country, questions are however being raised as to whether the policy is a honourable path for a sovereign nation to take.
The circular announcing the policy however adds that the policy would be in effect only from March 8 through May 2021, apparently confirming insinuations that it is indeed a desperate policy gambit that has been introduced to find alternative ways of defending the naira.
Several commentators fault the policy on the additional ground that it equally does not address the fundamental challenge that the Nigerian economy as structured presently is massively non-competitive.
They aver that addressing the long evaded need for the political restructuring of the country to stimulate new competitive and developmental impetus is actually where the country should be headed now.
Mr Godwin Emefiele, CBN Governor
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