THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it is taking decisive action to stabilise the naira against the dollar and to sanction foreign exchange speculators and black market operators supposedly influencing the loss in naira value.

The acting governor, Folasodun Sonubi, told journalists at the state house on Monday, August 14, after meeting with the President, Bola Tinubu, to brief him on what the bank is doing to halt the depreciation of the naira further.

The apex bank had floated the exchange rate, sharply dropping the naira against other foreign currencies.

The effects are an increasing cost of living, higher operating costs for businesses and a shrink in general economic activity.

A recent report by The ICIR disclosed that illegal operators in the foreign exchange market allegedly influence and manipulate the market, riding on poor insufficient dollars to the Nigerian economy.

Experts have faulted the exchange rate unification policy as unthought-out, having loopholes for speculators and black market operators to hijack the system.

Sonubi, however, said the banks were actively working to improve liquidity and stability, including addressing issues in the parallel market.

According to him, the apex bank is developing initiatives that can potentially lead to significant losses for speculators and black marketers.

“Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market. One of the things we discussed is what could be done to stabilise and what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings on in the various other markets, including the parallel market.

“He is concerned about its impact on the average person since; unfortunately, a lot of activities that we do, which are purely local, are still referenced to exchange rates in the parallel market,” Sonubi said.

Although the acting governor did not reveal the steps the bank is taking to hurt the continuous depreciation of the naira, he asserted that the official market (I&E window) has been relatively stable, and the spreads of the difference have not fluctuated as much.

“We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply but are touched by speculative demand from people.

“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them,” he stressed.

Sonubi also said what the CBN was doing would significantly impact the market in a few days.

“The intention is to ensure the environment operates at a level that’s more efficient, but also that is also very reasonable and does not have a negative impact to the best that we can on the lives of the average person,” he added.