Buhari Speaks On Why He Wont Devalue The Naira
President Muhammadu Buhari has explained the reason behind his refusal to approve the further devaluation of the Naira.
The president gave his explanations while contributing to a Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities at the opening session of the Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World, at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
According to him, Nigeria is not an exporting nation, and would be worst hit if the Naira was devalued.
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He noted that only the Western countries, with lots of items to export, could benefit from the economic measure.
Buhari, who stressed that Nigeria, is a mono-economy and is solely dependent on oil, asserted that the way out of the current slump in the global oil market, is for the administration to focus on agriculture and solid minerals development.
“The land is there and we need machinery inputs, fertilizer and insecticides”, he said.
On more reasons why the country’s currency shouldn’t be devalued, Buhari said, “Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue they compete better and manufacture and export more.
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“But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency?” the President asked.
“We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing. For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency”.
Buhari, therefore, asked Nigerians, to desist from pressurizing the government to devalue the Naira.
