President Bola Tinubu has defended his administration’s foreign exchange policies, stating that the naira would have lost all value without the economic reforms implemented upon his assumption of office.
Addressing party supporters on Friday during the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign rally in Akwa Ibom State, the President dismissed criticism regarding the depreciation of naira against the US dollar. The President stated that without the immediate removal of multiple exchange rates, the national currency would have become completely valueless.
“If we didn’t take a decision on the day I took over, we would be using wheelbarrow to move our naira because it would have been valueless,” Tinubu.
Trading at approximately N1,300 to a dollar, the President insisted the currency still retains functional purchasing power.
“You’re talking of N1,300 to a dollar. Huh, huh, it still has pocketable value. If we had left it, it would have been a wheelbarrow when you go to the tomato market,” he added.
The administration officially unified Nigeria’s multiple foreign exchange rates in June 2023 in a move to narrow the gap between the official and parallel market windows.
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