The federal government is devising effective strategies to strengthen a foreign exchange (FX) market that would significantly increase the value of the Naira that would shock currency speculators.
The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Tope Fasua, disclosed this at the "Cowries to Cash" lecture and lunch in Abuja.
He noted that the health of the Naira at the FX market was critical to the nation's economy, according to him, "When you want to destroy a country, destroy its currency first."
Dr. Fasua who represented the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, at the event said he was confident that members of the public who have been hoarding foreign exchange would regret their actions.
His words, "For those who are speculating and praying and wishing that the currency would become nonsense, I believe that the policies are being rolled out by the central bank and the government that I serve, led by the President, will shock some of them.
"You need to listen to the agenda, the man himself (Tinubu) and you will see that the level at which he is thinking is far ahead of most of us.
"You know, he has some very great ideas coming up. Some of them are what you've seen reversing the fall in the value of the naira, but he has also challenged us to review forward many of the targets, for example, the idea that Nigeria's economy will get to a trillion dollars. He wants to achieve it by 2026.
"Some people thought that the naira would continue to lose value. Of course, we can already see what's going on and who knows, maybe the Naira will strengthen even further to maybe something 500 or 600. I'm beginning to see some of those.
"If you want to position your exports properly, you have to be strategic, even in terms of the value of your currency. So you're going to see all of these, including efforts from the fiscal side.
"We have patriots running the economy right now. And naysayers have to be very, very afraid," Fasua said.
The S A said that the recent gains made by the Naira would be sustained, going forward.
In his keynote address at the event, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Dr Olayemi Cardoso, who was represented by the Director of Banking Supervision, Mr. Mustapha Haruna, partly blamed the current economic challenges on the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The Governor noted the transformation of the Nigerian payment system in especially following the digitalisation of the banking sector.
According to him, "Our strategic priorities in this effort is to foster financial inclusion and I'm very sure you will also relate to the progress we have made based on the current numbers.
"We have financial inclusion in the neighbourhood of about 64 per cent. Over 64 per cent of Nigerians have access to formal financial services. Our vision is to push the boundaries to over 95 per cent and we are well on course, in achieving that objective.
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