Nigeria Naira (NGN USD): Nigeria Using Managed Forex Regime: Central Bank

Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Nigeria has not changed its foreign exchange policies from a managed float to a flexible regime, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele said Tuesday.

A report concluding that the country has adopted a flexible foreign-exchange rate based on comments by Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed is wrong, according to the Governor. Africa’s largest crude producer now uses the more flexible Nafex rate for all official transactions, abandoning the 379 naira to the dollar fixed rate the central bank still has on its website Ahmed said Tuesday. The country’s 2021 budget was prepared based on the central bank’s fixed rate.

“The country is deemed not to be practicing a multiple currency regime as long as its rates varies or ranges around a band that is not more than 2% below the nominal market rate,” Emefiele said. “In our case the nominal market rate is Nafex. If the minister says that the rate for monetization is anchored or benchmarked on Nafex, the minister has not talked about a flexible exchange rate.”

Nigeria Devalues Currency as It Adopts Flexible Rate

The Abuja-based regulator said it ceased interventions in the investors and exporters window since January, though it continues to monitor the market to determine whether or not to intervene. It is also working with the government and the finance ministry to achieve a stable foreign-exchange regime, Emefiele said.