BusinessDay, a leading publication on the finance sector, has corroborated Daily Trust’s story on Naira devaluation.
Daily Trust had reported how the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window.
After the story went viral on social media, CBN via its Twitter handle, posted a stamp which read: “Fake News”.
The bank also issued a statement in which it cast aspersion on one of the most respected media outlets on the African continent.
“We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market,” the statement read.
But responding in a statement, Daily Trust said it had evidence of those who bought the dollar at the reported rate, and challenged the CBN to provide any facts to the contrary.
CBN had not provided any proof at the time of filing this report.
In its report titled, “Business leaders insist they get dollars at N630 despite CBN denial“, BusinessDay quoted manufacturers and importers as saying they had been buying dollars at N630.
“Nigeria’s currency has been long devalued, according to business leaders from manufacturers to importers who say they have been buying dollars at N630 since the beginning of May.”
“Their position contradicts that of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which on Thursday refuted claims by a newspaper that the naira has been devalued and insisted the rate was still the N461 quoted on its website.
“BusinessDay has, however, authoritatively gathered that the FX rate goes as high as N630 within the day, which is the rate at which several businesses buy dollars, but the rate mysteriously ends up at the CBN’s quoted N461 by the end of the trading day. This has been the case for over a month now, according to the business leaders who spoke to BusinessDay,” the report read.
BusiessDay further quoted a source to have said: “The real question is why the CBN is fraudulently maintaining the unrealistic N461 rate when the market is already executing trades at a much weaker rate. There’s a lot of deceit in the air.”
Contacted for reaction, CBN’s spokesperson reportedly said the apex bank will reveal its official stance on the rate soon.
