Expert gives conditions for Naira to continue gaining against Dollar in all markets

Financial Derivatives Company Limited's Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bismark Rewane, has said the naira will see brighter days.

He said this after the naira gained, closing trade at N1,475 per dollar at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market as per the data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange on Wednesday, February 20 2024.

On Thursday, the naira increased in the official market to close at N1,382.35 per dollar.

Rewane, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television on Thursday, asserted that the naira's appreciation is sustainable.

He said:

“The truth is that it is sustainable as long as you do several things. One is that interest rates have been increased; therefore, the propensity to save has increased, and the propensity to consume has reduced. People are consuming less and saving more if they are saving.”

The financial expert, however, expressed that he is unhappy with the government's management of resources.

The economist added:

“The government itself is consuming less and saving more. You heard that there is a travel ban.

“At the same time, there is a lot of waste in government, a lot of leakages in government and mismanagement of things.”

Rewane stated that the current administration needs to increase its efforts to increase the amount of money in circulation.

Although he acknowledged a lack of trust, he added that the government's policies should be consistent to foster citizen confidence.

He said:

“There is a need for new money; new money is a function of confidence. Confidence is a function of consistency in policy. These are the things that the administration has to come to terms with.

“We have a trust deficit in this country as policymakers. When we say today, the next day, we change. There is no consistency. The truth is that when people begin to see consistency, they stop panicking.

“When they stop panicking, they buy less in quantity but over a longer period. So you will now begin to see the prices of those commodities, even like diesel, which is now down to like N1,450”