MrSly:

It seems you are now used to the hardship. Was it $1=N380 when this government came to power. I don't wanna go into their empty promises of $1=N1. All we want from them now is to restore the economy to where it was when they met it. Goodluck in his corruption as APC made us to believe had a better economy than this pooh of APC lead govt.

chiefeconomist:
Mr. Boyo's knowledge of economics is very questionable. How on earth could you blame naira devaluation for all of Nigeria's ills? What many economists like Boyo fail to realise is that exchange rates are prices, they transmit what is happening in the underlying fundamentals.
It's absolutely undeniable that Nigeria maintained an unwise fixed exchange rate system throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s. That implied that there was no way to know when the naira's value was no longer realistic. We therefore kept the naira overvalued for far too long, which is precisely what turned Nigeria into an import-dependent country. When a currency is overvalued, imports become artificially cheap and exports become too expensive.
It was in this backdrop that Nigeria was forced by reality to readjust its currency. My Boyo May blame the IMF for all things wrong in Nigeria but that doesn't change the fact that our own attitude toward the market led us to the fixed exchange rate regime which did the damage to our industrial based. Simple.

Reference:
The article is not creamy smooth but what I can say about this before awaiting responses is this:
In letting the naira find its true market value remains the best tool for 'compelling' Nigerians to seek other means of obtaining it, whether generating their own, popularly called diversification or attracting those who already have it whether foreigners, exiles or locals to invest in dollars or dollar related enterprises. You simply cannot have a capitalist system which we operate with socialist guidelines. Someone somewhere is bound to be cheated, robbed and rendered poor and unfortunately in this case it is the 'common' man who has borne the brunt. Just like the fuel subsidy regime, the common man enjoys little benefit (his net fuel footprint is small but the cost to him of the loss of other social services such as roads, schools, hospitals is high, similarly with forex, the common man's share of the foreign reserve cannot be compared to that of the well to do on a personal and general scale.

What government through the CBN should do, once again like the fuel subsidy regime is a deliberate phased floating over a five, ten or twenty year period so that inflationary pressures are spread out but for the CBN to continue to use oil prlceeds to subsidise 'consumption' in large parts is just callous and generations to come will curse us for not making hay when the sun of big oil finally sets. Old habits are painful to leave. That's why this government with all the political capital it had, had the greatest opportunity to effect real change but it rather chose to maintain the status quo of big oil, cheap forex, consumption based socio-governmental structures. No lesson has been learnt, the Niger-Delta is quiet so they think Nigeria has succeeded. So the next recession will be worse. Much worse.

MrSly:

It seems you are now used to the hardship. Was it $1=N380 when this government came to power. I don't wanna go into their empty promises of $1=N1. All we want from them now is to restore the economy to where it was when they met it. Goodluck in his corruption as APC made us to believe had a better economy than this pooh of APC lead govt.

MrSly:

It seems you are now used to the hardship. Was it $1=N380 when this government came to power. I don't wanna go into their empty promises of $1=N1. All we want from them now is to restore the economy to where it was when they met it. Goodluck in his corruption as APC made us to believe had a better economy than this pooh of APC lead govt.

Baonel:
I bet 98% of nairalanders will never read this long write up.

danjumakolo:


lol the that sounds funny.
During gej tenor,the oil price was over $100,,also the rate was #170/$ and despite that,the reserves was depleted to $27b,...Don't forget that there was stability in the militant zones.

When gmb came, the oil price came down to $35 from about $110 due to obvious global factors, including crisis in Niger Delta which hampered production.You can see there was no way gmb could have maintained the indices he met.But even at that, reserves is now $31b and Naira gradually picking

ladgentle:


Please you guys should allow the intelligent ones to comment na. Please.

MrSly:

PMB was aware of the challenges before making his vain promises. Besides, does Niger delta crisis linger up till now? Whose forex policies devaluated naira to this abysmally low value? What has PMB done since his inauguration in order to stabilize naira. You can see for yourself that naira is on a free ride, hence the free fall.

MrSly:

PMB was aware of the challenges before making his vain promises. Besides, does Niger delta crisis linger up till now? Whose forex policies devaluated naira to this abysmally low value? What has PMB done since his inauguration in order to stabilize naira. You can see for yourself that naira is on a free ride, hence the free fall.

danjumakolo:


So it's time to fire the cbn governor.

chiefeconomist:
Mr. Boyo's knowledge of economics is very questionable. How on earth could you blame naira devaluation for all of Nigeria's ills? What many economists like Boyo fail to realise is that exchange rates are prices, they transmit what is happening in the underlying fundamentals.
It's absolutely undeniable that Nigeria maintained an unwise fixed exchange rate system throughout the 1970s and most of the 1980s. That implied that there was no way to know when the naira's value was no longer realistic. We therefore kept the naira overvalued for far too long, which is precisely what turned Nigeria into an import-dependent country. When a currency is overvalued, imports become artificially cheap and exports become too expensive.
It was in this backdrop that Nigeria was forced by reality to readjust its currency. My Boyo May blame the IMF for all things wrong in Nigeria but that doesn't change the fact that our own attitude toward the market led us to the fixed exchange rate regime which did the damage to our industrial based. Simple.