The Federal Government has rejected claims by economist Bismarck Rewane that it spent nearly $8 billion to stabilise the naira.
Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives Company, said in an interview that government intervention, including bond sales, played a key role in the naira’s recent appreciation to around N1,500 per dollar.
However, Presidential Adviser Bayo Onanuga dismissed the claim as “not true” and “ridiculous,” stating that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would clarify the matter.
Efforts to reach the CBN’s Acting Head of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi Ali, for a response were unsuccessful.
The naira, which had fallen to nearly N1,900 per dollar in February, has strengthened in recent weeks, narrowing the gap between official and parallel market rates.
