Nigeria’s External Loans have caused CBN to adopts market-led FX rate

The burden of external debts on the country could worsen, as the Federal Government would need more amount of Naira than previously required for servicing or liquidating existing loans and others being processed.

The increase is occasioned by the adoption of the market-led Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) window as the country’s official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The apex bank, yesterday, replaced the official exchange rate with the NAFEX, otherwise known as the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I & E) window. The action came over a week after the monetary authority yanked off the CBN rate from its home page, a decision interpreted as an indication of the adoption of NAFEX rate.

 

Yesterday, Vice Chairman of Highcap Securities Limited, David Adonri, insisted the most expedient option is a full liberalisation of the market, a policy stance that would allow a natural market clearance as obtained in other comparative African economies such as South Africa.

concern about rising external loans came a day after the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) disclosed the search for private sector funds for the financing of infrastructure.