Parallel Market is Misleading and would soon collapse says Finance Minister. Insists N305/$ is realistic. cc @DrJoeAbah

Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun

Finance Minister, Mrs  Kemi Adeosun, has said N305 is a realistic exchange rate of the naira to the US dollar, blaming the hoarding of the United States currency by Shylock market speculators for the huge disparities in the foreign exchange market rates.

She said the naira was valued between N305 and N315, adding that despite the recession, the national currency should not have crashed above N305.

Adeosun made the presentation when she appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Finance; Appropriations; and Aids, Loans and Debt Management, to defend the projections contained in the 2017- 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) yesterday.

She was at the meeting in company with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris; and officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

“The factors responsible for the declining fate of the local currency are irrational and emotional,” Adeosun told the committee, explaining that the difference between the official and the parallel market rates could not be justified.

“In reality, the Naira should not be affected more than the N305,” she argued, explaining that this was so because the CBN had put in place measures to stimulate more supply of dollars to deal with its shortage in the market.

She said the parallel market would soon collapse because it was not driven by any fundamental and was misleading the market.

 (ThisDay)