President Muhammadu Buhari declared late Wednesday in Nairobi that he was yet to be convinced that Nigeria and its people will derive any tangible benefit from an official devaluation of the Naira.

Speaking at an interactive meeting with Nigerians living in Kenya, President Buhari maintained that while export-driven economies could benefit from devaluation of their currencies, devaluation will only result in further inflation and hardship for the poor and middle classes in Nigeria's import-dependent economy.

The President added that he had no intention of bringing further hardship on the country's poor who, he said, have suffered enough already.

Likening devaluing the Naira to having it "killed", President Buhari said that proponents of devaluation will have to work much harder to convince him that ordinary Nigerians will gain anything from it.

The President also rejected suggestions that the Central Bank of Nigeria should resume the sale of foreign exchange to Bureaux de Change (BDCs), saying that the Bureau de Change business had become a scam and a drain on the economy.

"We had just 74 of the bureaux in 2005, now they have grown to about 2,800," President Buhari noted.

He alleged that some bank and government officials used surrogates to run the BDCs and prosper at public expense by obtaining foreign exchange from government at official rates and selling it at much higher rates.

"We will use our foreign exchange for industry, spare parts and the development of needed infrastructure.

"We don't have the Dollars to give to the BDCs. Let them go and get it from wherever they can, other than the Central Bank," President Buhari told the gathering.

The President reaffirmed his conviction that about a third of petroleum subsidy payments under the previous administration was bogus.

"They just stamped papers and collected our foreign exchange," he said.

The President appealed to Nigerians studying abroad to bear with his administration as it strives to address the challenges they are facing as a result of new foreign exchange measures.

He said that he was optimistic that the Nigerian economy will stabilize soon with the efficient implementation of measures and policies that have been introduced by his administration.

Garba Shehu
SSA to the President
(Media & Publicity)
January 28, 2016

http://www.newsheadlines.com.ng/latest-news/2016/01/28/i-wont-kill-the-naira-president-buhari-reject-devaluation-again/

Kill ke, naira wey don die since 1960...

Baba do something

Cutehector:
Kill ke, naira wey don die since 1960...

you are right...the naira realy died in the civilian war....

imagine the biafrauudians still accepted the naira in biafra.........

all our money was shipped abroad by the biafrauudians to buy weapons to fight us...

this igbos,should be very careful now....we are tired of this eternal back-stabbing.....


go back to israel!!!....leave us africans alone!!!.....

tsdarkside:



you are right...the naira realy died in the civilian war....

imagine the biafrauudians still accepted the naira in biafra.........

all our money was shipped abroad by the biafrauudians to buy weapons to fight us...

this igbos,should be very careful now....we are tired of this eternal back-stabbing.....


go back to israel!!!....leave us africans alone!!!.....

what is this one sayin.. if I arrest u eh.. ur talkin to an igbo man k.

Mr President! We have no option sir, you either kill the Naira by strategic devaluation or you kill Nigerians. Choose one!

AS IF HE UNDERSTANDS THE MEANING OF DEVALUATION SEF

mistarsam:
AS IF HE UNDERSTANDS THE MEANING OF DEVALUATION SEF

From his statement, he clearly does. The chief benefit of devaluation is that it makes your exports cheaper. For a country like Nigeria that exports very little, there's really not many other positives to it, especially for the man on the street. If Naira is devalued, thing will generally become way more expensive, especially in a Nigerian market that is heavily dependent on imports. By not giving BDCs any more foreign exhchange, critical monies can be saved for national development. The elites have eaten too deep into Nigeria's pockets and it's time to stop.

While Nigeria's economy may not look so bright at the moment, this current president seems passionate enough to put in place measures that may assure a brighter outlook for the future. I trust him.

May be he mean he wont bury d naira, ............ because all i see now is tht d naira is dying in bubus hand

mistarsam:
AS IF HE UNDERSTANDS THE MEANING OF DEVALUATION SEF

he clearly Doesn't understand. A sustained depreciation is already a pseudo devaluation. What he is doing is subsidy in FOREX a situation of parallel market exchanging at 310 while stubbornly fixing govt rate at 199.no one gets it at govt rate anyway! Whether he likes it or not the naira is technically devalued!

He may be right. Check link below on how to be a real man.

Here we go again. Always travel out of the Country to make an important statement. The people who are suffering it,are ones living in Nigeria sir not the ones in Kenya.

Okanokan:
Mr President! We have no option sir, you either kill the Naira by strategic devaluation or you kill Nigerians. Choose one!

Elaborate sir.

M4gunners:
Here we go again. Always travel out of the Country to make an important statement. The people who are suffering it,are ones living in Nigeria sir not the ones in Kenya.

Does it really matters where important statements are made ? whether it is from mars, usa, somalia, or dubai, the needed thing is that it is reported by NATIONAL dailies . If he makes an important statement in a building directly beside your house, as long as you've got no access to the building, you will still need reportage from the media to know what he says. Much ado about nothing.

Nigerians must learn not to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

The economist are just making noise, even the angels cannot convince President Buhari on naira devaluation.

Cc: Lalasticlala, Ishilove