Emefiele: on a road show to UK, USA

Amidst the dwindling fortunes of Nigeria’s currency,  central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele flew to Britain and the United States last week to try to lure back investors scared off by the plunge in oil prices and resulting financial turmoil.

The central bank last month bowed to foreign pressure to remove the 16-month-old 197-per-dollar peg on the naira it had brought in to try and control its fall as crude prices plummeted.

Investors welcomed the move but many said they were still steering clear until Africa’s biggest economy shows signs of concrete recovery.

Trade has been thin and dollar liquidity tight, leaving the central bank as the main supplier of hard currency.

Central bank governor Godwin Emefiele and his deputy Sarah Alade held meetings with investors in Britain and the United States, a central bank official said.

“It was more like a roadshow to get investors back into the country,” and authorities were particularly keen to boost dollar liquidity, he added.

The naira tumbled to a record low of 295.25 in thin trades against the dollar on Friday after the central sold dollars to try and boost liquidity on the interbank market, traders said.

It was quoted at 365 on the black market on Friday.

*Reuters/NAN