CBN denies devaluing Naira, says exchange rate unchanged

Amid wide reports of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) devalue the Naira, the regulatory bank has moved to deny the claims, as it further stated that the exchange rate in the official window remains unchanged.

Newspaper reports (not Oracle Today) had claimed, early Thursday morning, that the CBN, Thursday morning, effected a devaluation of the Naira following a meeting between the bank’s governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, Wednesday.

The reports further claimed that devaluation was on the back of Monday’s announcement by President Tinubu scrapping the petrol subsidy regime, adding that the CBN’s devaluation has forced the currency to now exchange for to N630/$1 on the official window.

“CBN devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day,” the newspaper report claimed.

However, disclaiming the viral report, the CBN, in a response via a statement by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin, Thursday, titled: ‘CBN Has Not Devalued The Naira,’ dismissed the newspaper report s being ‘replete with falsehood and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.’

CBN said; “For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while,” as it described the newspaper report as ‘speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.’

The full CBN statement below:

CBN Has Not Devalued The Naira

The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to a news report by Daily Trust Newspaper of June 1, 2023 titled ‘CBN Devalues Naira to 630/$1’.

We wish to state categorically that his new report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOOD and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially willful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

For the avoidance of doubt, the exchange rate at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.

The public is hereby advised to ignore the news report by Daily Trust in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated at causing panic in the market.

Media practitioners are advised to verify their facts from the Centre before publishing in order not to misinform the public

Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN

Isa AbdulMumin

June 1, 2023