BEVERLY HILLS, December 20, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will try to eliminate the currency black market, where the naira trades about 40 percent below the official rate against the dollar.
“The CBN has been directed to do this and the apex bank has promised to do something by putting a system in place to eliminate the black market because it is damaging the economy, Kemi Adeosun disclosed on Tuesday.
CBN scrapped a 16-month-old peg of 197 naira to the dollar in June, but it continues to trade in the official market, so that the naira remains far stronger against the dollar there than on the parallel market.
However, activities in the black market has continued to cause more damage to the economy as Nigeria, dependent on oil exports, is in its first recession in 25 years due to low global crude prices.
A CBN spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, added that the apex bank was working towards “ensuring that the forex market operates as effectively as we would envisage.”
“The aim is to ensure there is no black market.”
Story by Oputah David
