El-Rufai: I’m against naira devaluation

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, says he is opposed to the devaluation of the naira, Bloomberg reports.

The former minister, who is normally pro-market, said he had supported devaluation in the past and has not seen the benefits.

There has been pressure on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to allow the naira to find its market value following a sharp drop in FX inflows as a result of the crude oil price crisis.

But the CBN, backed by President Muhammadu Buhari, has resisted the proposition, maintaining that at the band of N197-199 to a dollar, it would continue to meet “important” FX needs of manufacturers.

The naira is trading at N320/$1 in the parallel market – which is now considered to be the real value of the national currency.

El-Rufai, a close ally of the president, is quoted by Bloomberg as supporting the stand of the government.

“I’ve lived through several rounds of naira devaluation and I have seen very little benefit to the Nigerian economy and people,” el-Rufai said.

“I supported each of them as a solution to the challenges we faced at the time. I regret that support because I have seen very clearly it brought nothing to Nigeria.”

CBN has introduced “demand management”, banning the provision of FX to dozens of imported items as well as services.