Naira has found its true value, says Presidency aide Onanuga
By Aboki Forex —
The Presidency has declared that the naira has now found its true market value. This follows the foreign exchange reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu's administration.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, made the statement on Arise Television's Prime Time programme on Tuesday. He said the naira was heavily undervalued under the previous exchange rate regime. That created room for arbitrage between the official and parallel markets.
Onanuga noted that when Tinubu took office, the official rate was about N400 to the dollar. The parallel market rate was much higher. He said the decision to liberalise the foreign exchange market allowed the naira to reflect its actual worth.
He also referenced recent comments from the International Monetary Fund, IMF. The IMF suggested the naira's fair value was around N1,100 to the dollar. This is despite the naira trading above N1,300 in the market.
Onanuga said: “If you do the mathematics, what was the level of our currency when this President came in? Officially, it was N400 to a dollar. Unofficially, we had criminal arbitrage going on, about hundred percent of the official rate. The president allowed the Naira to find its true value.
“Yesterday or so, the IMF said the true value of Naira is about N1100, even though it exchanges above N1300. This means the Naira will even do better. It has found its true value. It will even appreciate more as we move on.
“What we have found, with the policies the government adopted in 2023, I know about 6 million Nigerians invested in the stock market and have grown wealthier since 2023. The companies operating in the stock market are based in Nigeria and are making money, and are also generating wealth for their 6 million shareholders.”