Follow Us on Google
Mr Olumide Adedoyin, the Registrar, Chartered Institute of Treasury Management (CITM) has urged the Federal Government to regulate the acquisition and holding of foreign currencies in the country in a bid to address the free fall of naira to the dollars.
Adedoyin, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday against the backdrop of the free fall of the naira to the dollar.
He urged the government to be alived to its responsibility of protecting the national currency by enacting proper legislation that would protect the sanctity of the naira.
Adedoyin, while reacting to the statement made by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CVN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, that the naira was undervalued, said the naira had been constantly abused and not undervalued.
He said, “There are multiple economic indicators ranging from inflation rates, interest rates, economic growth, trade balance, political will and stability, and market sentiments as determinants for the real value of the naira.
Adedoyin said there was a need for political will to take fundamental decisions on the process of regulating the acquisition and holding of foreign currency.
According to him, the challenges currently in the financial system are that if the monetary authorities decided to make available the sum of a trillion dollars into the economy, it would be mopped up within 24 hours.
This, he said, was so because the majority of the affluent Nigerians have vaults within their households where currency is stored.
This, according to him, is either for speculative motives or for illicit trading and value enhancement of private wealth outside the banking system.
The registrar blamed a lack of enforcement and regulatory authorities for taking on the task of some supermarkets and schools transacting businesses and paying school fees only in dollars.
He said their activities should be viewed as economic crimes against the state, adding that the government should be able to put in place modalities to regulate currencies.
According to him, it is an economic crime in other countries to trade, pay fees, and carry out any financial transactions in any other medium of exchange other than the national currency.
He said the Nigerian currency remained the most abused and denigrated currency in the world, adding that it reflects how the currency is treated in preference to the dollar.
“In most cases, graft and gratification are offered in the currency of choice, where officials demand them only in dollars.
He advocated that all currencies must go through the banking system in order to create a paper trail for the avoidance of laundering proceeds from illicit activities like kidnapping and drug smuggling, among others.
He urged those authorities to think outside the box and find creative solutions to the embattled naira as a rescue mission in the course of finding the true value of the local currency.
