The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to develop an appropriate implementation strategy that will engender a successful transition from the current multiple exchange rate windows to a single efficient one.
The President of MAN, Engr Mansur Ahmed made the call yesterday in reaction to the move by the CBN for the unification of foreign exchange windows.
Ahmed said the CBN should ensure that the strategy pursues two fundamental objectives; the first, is to limit the short-term pains until efficiency gains materialise by responding swiftly with an inward oriented rescue guideline, while the second should seek to boost the pace at which such efficiency gains materialise.
“Submit all the instruments of exchange rate determination gradually to the unseen forces of demand and supply as a matter of necessity and completely avoid the temptation of interference in order to fully harvest all the benefits that foreign exchange unification can offer.” He said.
He further said the apex bank needs to ensure that the implementation of the critical aspect of the unification process is done as fast as possible, to enable Nigeria take her portion from the meagre capital currently available in the global economy.
“This is not unconnected with the fact that the intensity of the prevailing aggressive competition for resources occasioned by the backlashes of COVID-19 may deny some countries from accessing the much-needed capital inflow, as investors holding scarce resources by default rationally settle for destinations where investment is safe and earnings can be easily repatriated.”
