By James Moses (9News Nigeria)
The Minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said that the Federal Government would go after individuals and organizations involved in illegal activities and sabotage within the forex market.
This is as he said that critical reforms and policies of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, particularly the petrol subsidy removal and unified exchange rate geared towards economic prosperity of the country were begining to yield results.
Idris, in a statement on Friday, noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had been proactive, initiating a comprehensive strategy to enhance liguidity on the forex market, adding that saboteurs were however hell-bent on sabotaging such efforts.
“In addition to unifying the rates, the bank has also cleared a significant amount of outstanding forex obligations and outlined new operational mechanisms for commercial banks, Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and International Money Transfers Operators.
“It is heartwarming to note that we are starting to see results. Indeed, the naira is stabilizing and the foreign exchange market is seeing a surge of inflows. The latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures show that capital importation into Nigeria rose by 66 percent in Q4 2023, compared with the preceding quarter. The CBN governor had also highlighted the fact that $1.8billon flowed into the forex market last week on the back of the new reforms.
The minister said CBN’s effort to reform and sanitise a system entrenched in long-term malpractice had met with “ferocious resistance from speculators and other unscrupulous players within and outside our country who profit from dysfunction and opacity”.
“To tackle this, regulatory and enforcement agencies of government have been working round the clock in the past few days, joining forces to address these efforts at undermining the reforms. That strategic alliance has led to intelligence-led identification, investigation and sanctioning of individuals and organisations involved in illegal active and sabotage within the forex market”.
“Relevant regulatory and security agencies have been directed to remain vigilant to ensure that malpractices capable of undermining our currency are averted and those engaged on these acts brought to book. The government’s will not allow its efforts to jeopardised”.
-9News Nigeria.
