Senator Adams Oshiomhole has called on the federal government to intervene in the worsening depreciation of the naira against the dollar, stating that market forces alone cannot stabilize the country’s currency.
In the parallel market, widely known as the black market, the naira has hit an all-time low, closely exchanging as high as N1000 for a dollar despite the floating of the currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Channels Television reports that Oshiomhole made the call on Tuesday while speaking on the Senate floor during the screening of the CBN governor nominee, Yemi Cardoso, and four other deputies.
“The challenge we deal with now is that everybody seems to have submitted completely to the so-called market forces and rely on the invisible eyes of Adams Smith to regulate and determine the value of the naira.
“It is now clear, after Babangida started the devaluation, that market forces can never stabilize the naira. The state must intervene.”
With the challenges forex scarcity has posed to manufacturers, the former Edo state governor wondered how the manufacturing sector of the economy would grow when the interest rate was also high.
“The interest rate cannot be at 20 or 25 percent, and you are expecting the manufacturing sector with investments that require a long-term gestation period to grow.
“Even if you are a drug dealer, You would find that those dealing with drugs in Latin America would be more competitive.”
To overcome Nigeria’s current economic challenges, Oshiomhole
advocated for a think outside the box approach while suggestively asking managers of the economy to trade with caution over Brittenwood appraisals.
“So, I think there is a need for complete thinking outside the box. When the West celebrates our free market, no control, and so on, I am always suspicious.
“We need to interrogate our assumptions. We don’t need to copycat Washington and all these international financial capitals. It is their interest. There is no such thing as a common interest.”
