Too Late To Devalue Naira – Zinox Boss
Chairman of Zinox Group, Nigeria’s foremost integrated Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) conglomerate, Leo Stan Ekeh has lent
his voice to the on-going debate over the calls for the devaluation of
the local currency, noting that prevailing circumstances in the nation’s
fiscal and monetary framework aligned to developments in the global oil
market makes devaluation a needless venture at this material time.
Since the turn of the year, the country has had to contend with
reduced government earnings from the sale of crude oil, with the current
administration especially hard-hit by the dwindling prices of the
commodity in the global market, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) to impose strict foreign exchange rules to save its reserves while
battling the pressure from various quarters to devalue the naira.
Speaking at a reception organized in honour of his 60th birthday by a
select group of ICT media entrepreneurs in Lagos, Ekeh noted that it
was too late to devalue the naira as the move will only serve to further
impoverish the masses and plunge the country into a state of
hyper-inflation.
“What do you think would happen to already stretched wage earners?
Would their salaries be linked to rate of inflation as is the standard
globally? As I speak a lot of states cannot pay the minimum monthly
salary.
“If devaluation happened mid-last year it would have made sense and
encouraged in-flows from investors but devaluing now would compound our
already difficult situation and investors will only wait in anticipation
of a further devaluation. It will rubbish our currency forever and
strengthen the purchasing power of our trading partners,” he said.
Ekeh, who claimed that his company is one of the casualties of the
current forex scarcity with increasing difficulty to meet overseas
business obligations, believes Nigerians and Nigerian corporates have
reasonably adjusted to the realities of the hard times with pains as
most people are now prioritizing critical needs which should be the
case most times. In his view, the dire situation has most importantly
impacted common sense which is not too common in many Nigerians.
“It’s too late to devalue the naira at this point in time. I can see
reason behind the refusal of the President to consider devaluation as it
is a move that will certainly erode the buying power of the middle
class and push millions of Nigeria already living below the poverty line
into abject penury,” surmised Ekeh, who is also a renowned Third World
Economist.
Too Late To Devalue Naira – Zinox Boss
Reviewed by Anaskyspot
on
01:19:00
Rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment