The naira took a downward swing on Thursday after federal government’s disclosure that there was “no yuan swap” deal signed by Nigeria and China.

The naira, which traded between 315 and 317 on Wednesday, sunk sharply to a position between 320 and 322 on Thursday after the disclosure at the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday.

Earlier, Nigeria was reported to have agreed a yuan-swap deal with China, although it has not been finalised.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), had spoken about the deal, adding that it would be concluded by the People’s Bank of China, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s biggest lender, as CBN’s representative.

He said the deal will take pressure off the dollar in Nigeria and help conserve Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

However, Geoffrey Onyeama, minister for foreign affairs, said the deal was not a currency swap, but a deal for the flow of the yuan into Nigeria, adding that the dollar is still in use for international trade.

“It’s not really a swap. What it takes is that as the Chinese economy goes strong, there is some pressure on them from the trading partners, international financial institutions. They agreed that the money should be internationalised,” he said while briefing the press after FEC meeting on Wednesday.

“They started that for a while. They were protecting it also. They did not allow it to be fully exchangeable. But now, their economy is fully strong, they are looking for a way to internationalise the currency.

“They were saying essentially that they wanted to segment it. For Southern Africa, South Africa is going to be the sort of a hub for the currency. So, they are going to be the focal point for the Chinese to make that available for trade in that area.

“In West Africa, they are looking for a hub. Ghana is interested in being the hub for the currency, to circulate it for those who want to use it. It is not compulsory. But Nigeria is a bigger country with bigger economy. So that does make sense, they became a kind of attracted to Nigeria to be the hub.”

He said the currency gives Nigeria flexibility in buying Chinese goods with yuan rather than dollars, corroborating Emefiele’s stance.

“We still use the dollar. But if it not enough and there are some people who want to invest in the country, instead of crying that they cannot take dollar out, there might be yuan that they would be happy to take out because it is now internationalized as a currency and they can use it. So, it gives us a much larger option.

“As you know, a lot of importers now are complaining that they are not able to access the dollars to buy good and things like that. So, if we have in addition to dollar, we have yuan, then they can also have that available.”

The deal has not been totally consummated by all parties involved, but the prospects are bright for Nigeria as remnibi hub in West Africa.

https://www.thecable.ng/naira-falls-sharply-fg-says-no-yuan-deal-yet?_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C7942492530

Really...so this people went to China for a five day excursion. Chisoooooooooooooooos! why cant this people be open, tansperent and true for once.

For God's sake China knows that Nija is an unstable economy for now. Therefore what was signed was an "oil-services" swap and nothing more.

Tell the people the truth. And now lemme warn you people, "we are tired of this new day new denial" you people cannot continue playing with over 140 million people. This will be our last warning before something does you people there.

These guys are just super confused

Deny swap deal again?, Fayose said it

Na wa o. what hasn't this government denied? Our economy keeps suffering for their uselessness.

They keep crashing the economy with the confusion. Denying denyers!
Apc scam!

Hyper CLUELESS government i have ever witness since i was born in 198...

Trut:
Hyper CLUELESS government i have ever witness since i was born in 198...

You own better say na 198.... Some people have be passing through this experiment since 1914.

Na wa o.

Front-page please

Hmmmmm

To be honest I feel disappointed hearing we never had any swap deal with China after previously announcing to the public we did.

I think it's better u don't announce at all in the 1st place if you're not certain about it. Denyin it later on is so annoyin and disappointing. If u want the masses to take u seriously then u will have to do away with double mouth.

#I still stand with Mr President Nevertheless.

It's so sad, it's always bad news about my country . Smh, iam so scared of withdrawing my money because this exchange rate stuff is killing , I'm sure you understand me better if you are also outside the Country , the only thing Nigerians are saying here now is " I regret being a Nigerian" Our parents are complaining from home about the exchange rate , Buhari stopped the use of Western union to any country outside Nigeria , this same buhari reduced the daily withdrawal limit to just 30k, it takes me over a month at times to withdrawal the whole of my school fee , we can't even pay our school fee anymore through direct deposit from Nigeria , imagine your tuition fee is like 400k , you can only withdrawal 30k everyday and the bank charge is like 6k per withdrawal , that's different from this exchange rate again o , definitely if your school fee is 400k , your parents most send you like 700k just because of bank charges and exchange rate and it's going to take you over a month to withdraw your school fee.

APC and propaganda self na 5 and 6...
Chai

2019 ooooooooooh

No swap deal? we've been scammed again

choi!!! Wish we gained our indepenence in 1992 or something... we cant rule ourselves

What Buhari and APC promised us vs What we got..

lobatan

Oh Naira, My Naira.

What is the problem with APC gan!

Scammed again oh wailers cry!!


#istandwithbuhari

A P C!!! Scams, everywhere you go. Another promise cancelled.

Bascards

Wetn dem dey tawk sef, that cbn guy sef + all doz finance guys, i no understand them, confused set of peepz, tmao now, we'll hear another news entirely.

Kuku kill us na!! !! !! !! !!
#sighs

After lost go cancel gain. This people don't know Chinese very well

Bubu amanye aka na Nsi @b0ki

The only regret is, I wish only those who voted change are suffering....

This government is useless, the are capable of nothing... Government built on lies and propaganda....

Am anxiously looking forward for Fayose press release





Fayose be like.........I am vindicated

some group of persons will avoid this thread.

some reduced their efficient man hour at work or home, explaining baseless topic in a text book called importance of currency swap. finally 'the man died' ended the story


well una ink no lose, cos pple lik me now know Wat is currency swap as the only good tin I don penefit from the gulpment.

its obvious Buhari only went to China to learn kung-fu

Then why is everybody condemning fayose? This government seems totally unserious and lack any sense of governance... 2019 is just too far

Hehehe... dis country sef, we really don't know what we want. Everyone will come with his or her own policy. This crisis would have been averted if we had switched to anoda hard currency... I pray we get out of dis in one piece cos I don dey plan move to Ghana.

Fayose the next president.

Everyday naira just dy crash like that malaysia plane
Issorite




Ps the headline should have been

'Naira crashes AGAIN...'
Nonsense