The acting Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Folashodun Shonubi, has said the bank will address the demand pressure on the country’s exchange rate, as the naira continued to slide against the dollar.
He gave the assurance while answering questions from journalists after the two-day Monetary Policy Committee that ended in Abuja on Tuesday.
Within one week, the naira fell to the dollar from 820/$ to 870/$ at the parallel market on Tuesday.
Since the unification of the exchange rates in the country, the naira has continued to depreciate, amid worsening inflation, rising fuel costs and other challenges in the country.
Shonubi said, “The market needs to find its level. There is pent-up demand which the market cannot cater to. Once we clear this demand, the volatility will normalise. We have started intervening, and we would continue to intervene until the market gets to our level.”
Announcing the outcome of the MPC meeting, the acting CBN governor said the majority of the members voted to raise the Monetary Policy Rate.
He said, “Six members voted to raise the MPR: Four members by 25 basis points and two members by 50 basis points. Five members voted to hold the MPR constant. All members voted to narrow the asymmetric corridor from +100/-700 to +100/-300 basis points around the MPR.