President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday again restated his earlier resolve not to devalue the naira.
Buhari made the assertion while contributing to a Presidential Panel Roundtable on Investment and Growth Opportunities at the opening of the “Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World” at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
His assertion was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
According to Buhari, he could not afford to devalue Nigerian currency because the country is import dependent.Buhari said, “Developed countries are competing among themselves and when they devalue, they compete better and manufacture and export more.
“But we are not competing and exporting but importing everything including toothpicks. So, why should we devalue our currency?
“We want to be more productive and self-sufficient in food and other basic things such as clothing.“
For our government, we like to encourage local production and efficiency.”He stated that those who had preference for foreign items should continue to pay for them rather than pressure government to devalue the naira.
The President reiterated his government’s resolve to ensure national food security before exporting food products.
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