Importer to CBN: Tell the truth, naira has been devalued

Importers have condemned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s over its denial that the Naira has been devalued.

In an interview with BusinessDay, an importer, who craved anonymity, asked the CBN to be truthful.

In its report titled, “Business leaders insist they get dollars at N630 despite CBN denial“, BusinessDay quoted manufacturers and importers as saying they had been buying dollars at N630.

“We bid every two weeks. Last week’s CBN bid rate was actually N634-N636 officially. Our government should always tell us the truth, the naira has been devalued officially; that’s the truth,” BusinessDay quoted one importer to have said.

EXCLUSIVE: CBN devalues Naira to 630/$1

“The real question is why the CBN is fraudulently maintaining the unrealistic N461 rate when the market is already executing trades at a much weaker rate. There’s a lot of deceit in the air.”

Daily Trust had reported how the apex bank devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window.

After the story went viral on social media, CBN via its Twitter handle, posted a stamp which read: “Fake News”.

The bank also issued a statement in which it cast aspersion on one of the most respected media outlets on the African continent.

“We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market,” the statement read.

But responding in a statement, Daily Trust said it had evidence of those who bought the dollar at the reported rate, and challenged the CBN to provide any facts to the contrary.

CBN had not provided any proof at the time of filing this report.