THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY AND NAIRA
The currency exchange rate of Naira was at #197 to a dollar as at June 2015, but now exchanges at above #400.
However, the people are no longer dealing with the CBN official rate for transactions. Findings have revealed that Bureau De Change (BDC) operators get the dollar from the CBN at #393 but sell it for #494.
The major causes of the depreciation of Naira include the unnecessary importation of goods and services by Nigerians, and the deficit in local production and manufacturing of essential goods and services.
In order to prevent Naira from getting weaker, the government t must put the following into action. Firstly, the government must encourage the consumption of locally manufactured goods and services in order to reduce pressure on the Naira.
Also, the main reason why we all care about the value of Naira to dollar is that we need to import. If we can access good medical facilities at home, good education, and we do not import petrol, if we produce what we consume and consume what we produce, we will not care about the value of naira to dollar and the value of Naira will stabilise.
Furthermore, the government should make it imperative for the nation to rekindle interest in agriculture and industrial production.
More so, there is the need to expand the productive capacity in order to produce more goods and services and even generate more jobs in the country. This will reduce the pressure on Naira and prevent it from being weak and vulnerable.
By Adewusi Adetooke Boluwatife; a 400level student of Linguistics and Communication studies, Osun State University, Ikire campus.
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