I was asked by a few people on social media if actually what happened was a devaluation. This surprised me considering that the buzz word for the last week has been “devaluation”. And then I saw an article in the Punch quoting Dr Joseph Nnana who was answering questions from the Senate Panel Banking Committee as part of the procedures for his confirmation as CBN Deputy Governor.
Here is what he had to say about devaluation.
“The Central Bank did not devalue the naira so to speak, it only followed the three principal markets in Nigeria -the official, the retail and the parallel.”
Now contrast this to The Deputy Governor, CBN, Adebayo Adelabu, who answered questions from the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency’s in Lagos. Here is what he had to say about devaluation.
“The pressure on the Naira is from frivolous demand on foreign exchange and if we don’t devalue the currency now, it will continue to depreciate,”
Now this is same day same topic and yet different point of views. Sometimes you wonder what goes in the mind of our policy makers. Are they out to play politics with our money or are they there to defend policies that impact on our money. It’s quite disappointing to see flip flops like this considering how it can confuse ordinary Nigerians. The fact remains that the Naira was devalued.