ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s Senate passed a motion on Wednesday to summon Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele over the “free fall of the naira” and called on the central bank to urgently intervene.
The naira has fallen to successive record lows on the parallel market due to dollar scarcity since July last year after the central bank stopped forex sales to retail currency traders to ease pressure on reserves and support the official market.
The move funnelled demand to the unofficial market, where the currency is freely traded. Lawmakers on Wednesday said the policy had “contributed to the excessive scarcity of forex in Nigeria,” the Senate President said in a statement.
The currency has been trading within a range on the official market.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Leslie Adler)
