CBN Denies Claim: Debunks information Surrounding Naira Devaluation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked reports claiming that the apex bank has devalued the naira to N631/$1.

CBN via its Twitter handle described the report as fake news. “The CBN did not devalue the Naira,” the bank had tweeted with the image of the publication attached.

Daily Trust had earlier reported on Thursday that The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has devalued the Naira to N631 to the dollar from N461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day.

The media house claimed that “at the resumption of the weekly bidding for foreign exchange, the apex bank sold the spot rate to banks on behalf of their customers at N631 to a dollar and most bidders got the full amount they requested.”

The report also cited President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech, in which he spoke about having a unified exchange rate as a determinant.

Reacting to the publication, CBN refuted the claim.

Shortly after, the apex bank also released a short statement to debunk the claim. According to the statement, the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (1&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.

CBN Denies Claim in a press statement

Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications said in a statement he signed that the report published by the Daily Trust Nigeria titled “CBN Devalues Naira To 630/$1” is embedded in falsehoods and ignorance of how the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.

The statement reads “We wish to state categorically that this news report, which in the imagination of the newspaper is exclusive, is replete with outright FALSEHOODS and destabilizing innuendos, reflecting potentially wilful ignorance of the said medium as to the workings of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.”

It added that the exchange rate at the Investors’ & Exporters’ (1&E) window traded this morning (June 1, 2023) at N465/US$1 and has been stable around this rate for a while.

He further urged the public to ignore the news report by Daily Trust in its entirety, as it is speculative and calculated as causing panic in the market. The CBN also advised media teams to verify their facts from the Central Bank of Nigeria before publishing in order not to misinform the public.