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Business News of Friday, 3 March 2023

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Steve Hanke says Emefiele is 'incompetent' as naira depreciates further against the dollar

Steven Hanke and Godwin Emefiele Steven Hanke and Godwin Emefiele

A United States' Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke has called out Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for his management of the economy.

Hanke who is a heavy critic of the Buhari-led administration has described Emefiele as "incompetent" as the naira continues to depreciate nearly 26% against the USD since January 2022.

"Since Jan 2022, the naira has #depreciated nearly 26% against the USD. Nigeria’s INCOMPETENT central bank and its governor Godwin Emefiele continue to keep the naira in the tank," he wrote on his Twitter handle.

The naira has been on a downward spiral since 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic struck and the Russian-Ukraine war.

It dipped further against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange market by 1.05%. On Thursday, the naira traded at an average of N768/$1, a downturn from N760/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

This is according to information from black market FX operators who spoke to Nairametrics.

On the other hand, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar at the cryptocurrency P2P exchange market recorded an improvement of 0.84% to trade at an average of N739.7/$1 on Thursday morning, 2nd March 2023, when compared to N745.98/$1 recorded on Wednesday, reports Nairametrics.

Also, the naira appreciated against the US dollar at the official Investors and Exporters window to close at N461.35/$1 on Wednesday, 1st March 2023, representing a marginal increase of 0.14% from N462/$1 recorded on Tuesday.

However, forex turnover increased by 105.03% to $98.60 million at the official exchange on Wednesday, from the $48.09 million that exchanged hands on Tuesday.