Experts foresee prolong stability of naira, call for more diversification efforts

Some financial experts on Monday foresee a prolong stability of the naira and urged the Federal Government to capitalize on it to invest more on its diversification programmes.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Lagos that the call was necessary due to the continued rise in the price of crude.
NAN reports that Brent crude traded at $79.90 per barrel on Monday.
Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, a senior economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, noted that the naira had remained relatively stable at the foreign exchange market.
Tella said that the increase in the price of oil at the international market meant that the CBN had enough buffers to defend the naira.
”The Naira will remain stable if the current oil price continues to rise.
”The CBN has been defending the naira following the increase in the foreign reserve but this is the time diversify the economy into productive economy,” Tella said.
The economist said that an aggressive diversification of the economy away from oil would ensure better foreign exchange stability in the country
Prof. Evans Osabuohien, immediate past Head of Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Sango-Ota, Ogun, said that the exchange rate had been stable since January.
Osabuohien said that the government should ensure the government put an end to the country’s dependence on import, weak productive capabilities and so on.
Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), said the naira would remain stable in the months ahead.
Gwadabe commended the CBN for its interventions at the nations’ foreign exchange market.
He noted that access to finance for business expansion, diversification and employment creation was necessary to boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy.
NAN reports that the naira had remained stable at the nations’ foreign exchange market at N360 to the dollar.