Olusegun Aganga, a former finance minister, clarified that the naira would stay weak as long as the nation relies heavily on imports.
Speaking Thursday at the 51st Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria at the 3rd Adeola Odutola Lecture, Aganga stated that for the naira to remain strong, Nigeria must produce for both domestic consumption and, more importantly, export.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s exchange reforms, the local currency dropped from roughly 450/dollar to an average of 760/dollar, according to The PUNCH.
At the parallel market on Thursday, the value of the local currency fell to 1045/dollar.
But Aganga, speaking about the naira’s free fall, questioned, “What is the sense in spending billions defending the naira when it keeps falling instead of investing in legitimate exporters and manufacturers of high-value products that would earn Nigeria foreign income and more?”. “.
The former Minister directed the government to designate the industrial sector as a national priority area and provide financial, policy, and plan support for it.
“I can assure you that every naira, no matter how large, that is well spent on the strategic industrial sectors can be easily recovered and will deliver tremendous benefits to the economy and the nation,” he said, “unlike the trillions spent on subsidies, bailouts, the Agric Anchor Borrowers Programme, and the refineries.”.
