Kenneth Okonkwo, a Labour Party (LP) leader, has lambasted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its management of the foreign exchange market, claiming that any forex management that does not result in economic prosperity and stability cannot be considered effective.
“I do not think the CBN understands what it is doing,” Okonkwo said on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.
“When you talk about the freefall of the naira, the worst case is when forex management affects manufacturers. The success of the forex management is in its ability to ensure stability and sustenance, not whether it is high or low. The greatest threat to the economy is uncertainty,” he said.
According to the former spokesman for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign, the duty of the CBN is to ensure macroeconomic sustainability.
He claimed the present All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has foisted macroeconomic volatility on manufacturers who are now groaning under the weight of forex instability, high diesel prices, and of late, electricity tariff hike.
Okonkwo said the government is punishing Nigerians on Band A for having more hours of power supply.
“Some people living in rich neighbourhood are not rich,” he said, explaining that some Nigerians live in boys’ quarters in those neighbourhoods classified as Band A.
He said Nigerians are beginning to be aware that political power lies in their hands and they are beginning to take decisions to take their destinies in their own hands.
Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last weeks, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s toughest economic crises sparked by the current government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
The naira has appreciated against the dollar in recent weeks, gaining over 40%, from about N1,900/$ to about N1,100/$1 now.
As the naira rebounds, Nigerians expect significant reduction in the prices of food and basic commodities but this hasn’t been the case with inflation rate at 33.20% and interest rate at 24.75%.
According to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the inflation for March 2024 was largely driven by increase in food such as garri, millet, yam, bread coupled with energy and housing costs.
However, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Tuesday, said the Nigerian economy is moving in the right direction as policies of the new administration has started slowing down food inflation.