Osinbajo Canvasses Better Foreign Exchange Rate Management

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has canvassed for an effective synergy between the fiscal and monetary aspects of Nigeria’s economy, as well as better management of the country’s foreign exchange rate.

He spoke on Monday at a ministerial retreat organised for ministers, heads of government parastatals and service chiefs, among others, which was declared open at the Conference Hall of the State House, Abuja by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In his presentation titled ‘The Buhari Administration: Reflections on the Journey So far’, the vice-president who outlined some of the game-changing achievements of the federal government, said there are some areas of concern in the economy.

According to him, “The first is the synergy between fiscal and monetary policy. The failure of that synergy has led to unnecessary drawbacks in our economic performance and planning. What imports are eligible for foreign exchange must agree with the fiscal ambitions for manufacturing and industry.

“Currently, such decisions on import eligibility for foreign exchange for instance is being taken solely by the monetary arm, although fiscal arm would normally be expected to lead in such matters.”

Osinbajo further said, “Our exchange rate management continues to be an issue. The exchange rate of the naira to convertible currencies continues to face significant downward pressure because demand substantially outstrips supply.

“That is just the reality. On one hand we have tried demand management and rationing, which has not really worked because fixing the price while the parallel market reveals a massive arbitrage merely creates the opportunity for massive rents.

“It will also compound the backlog of remittances for foreign businesses who want to repatriate their earnings. The discussion that we must now have and going forward is how best to manage the situation by finding a mechanism for increasing supply and moderating demand which will be transparent and will boost confidence.

“I think that a more market-driven approach will be best, some price discovery within the context of a managed float is certainly required. Some efforts at controlled price discovery that had been made in the past include the Foreign Exchange Market (FEM), Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM), various iterations of the Dutch Auction System. (DAS), Wholesale Dutch Auction System (W-DAS) and Retail Dutch Auction System (R-DAS).

“While they may not have been perfect, it would appear as if the rules were clear and there was relative stability. When people know how they can access foreign exchange competitively, this will boost confidence and inward flows will increase.”