By Seyi Babalola
The presidency has warned forex speculators that the naira will soon appreciate.
Bayo Onanuga, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, advised speculators to dump their dollars as soon as possible to prevent “tears.”.
Onanuga was reacting to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) announcement that it has cleared the $7 billion foreign exchange backlog inherited by Governor Yemi Cardoso.
Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, stated in a statement on Wednesday that all genuine FX backlog claims had been settled.
Ali stated that the apex bank hired Deloitte Consulting, an independent auditing company, to thoroughly review the transactions, ensuring that only legal claims were honored.
“Any invalid transactions were referred to the relevant authorities for further investigation,” she stated.
The CBN’s commitment to tackling the FX backlog appears to be paying off, with the external reserves seeing a significant rise, reaching $34.11 billion as of March 7, 2024, the highest level in eight months
Reacting, Onanuga posted on X, “With backlog FX settled, Naira is set to appreciate further, faster. Currency speculators should quickly dump their stock of dollars to avoid sorrows and tears.”
