A financial expert, Mr. Victor Owonifari, has described the
intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the interbank forex
as a desirable step in the right direction for the nation’s financial
system.
He said the move would go a long way in putting the naira
in a vantage position when compared with other currencies of the world.
Owonifari,
a chartered accountant and the Principal Partner /CEO of Victor
Owonifari & Co., who said this week at Ikeja, Lagos during an
interactive session with journalists, noted that the market should be
allowed to operate freely and find its equilibrium, but as the
regulatory body, the CBN should intervene once in a while to curb
excesses and supply shortfalls, thereby protecting the naira.
He
said that as the banking regulator had repeatedly informed Nigerians
that it allows for flexibility to come into play and was prepared to
intervene only when necessary to prevent volatility in the forex market;
the new system was expected to operate as a single market structure
through the interbank and autonomous methods.
Owonifari added that the recent unpegging of the exchange rate of the Naira increased the cost of imported goods, thereby making Nigerians to
pay more for imported goods without a corresponding increase in quality
and quantity.
He further noted that the increase in the pump
price of petroleum products and prices of household commodities in the
early part of the year was partly responsible for the sudden rise in
inflation rate by 16.05 per cent, which was above what it was same
period in 2015.
He urged the government to checkmate the trend of
inflation in the country by not only ensuring the reduction of the
people’s dependence on imported goods, but by also creating an enabling
environment that will be attractive investors and small scale business
owners in order to have positive effects on the Naira , provide job
opportunities for Nigerians, reduce capital flight and bring down
inflation to an acceptable limit