June 14, 2016/The Will

Pending any last minute changes, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will this Wednesday unveil details of the much-anticipated flexible foreign exchange policy, THEWILL can exclusively report.

THEWILL gathered from authoritative sources at the reserve bank that an announcement by Governor Godwin Emefiele will be made tomorrow in Abuja having concluded consultations with various stakeholders on the policy.

THEWILL further gathered that the CBN as part of the new policy will allow market forces determine the exchange rate between the naira and other currencies but may retain a small intervention window to allow it intervene in some instances ‘critical’ to the nation’s economic growth and will apply foreign exchange at an adjustable rate between N230-N250 depending on the rate at the market.

“The naira will be officially devalued tomorrow and going forward the exchange rate will be market-driven as done anywhere else in the world,” our source with knowledge of the policy said. Source asked to remain anonymous.

The CBN had set the official rate at between N197-N199 but the scarcity of foreign exchange due to the crash in the global price of crude oil, which accounts for the bulk of the nation’s foreign exchange inflow has forced the naira down at the parallel market (black market) to between N365-N370, mostly due to speculative trading in anticipation of the implementation of the new policy.

Analysts are positive that the new policy would stabilize the forex market, calm nervous foreign investors and ease the flow of foreign exchange in and out of the country.