I don't support devaluation of naira - President

dimeji akinloye

December 30, 2015 11:36 PM

He said Nigeria’s was a consumer economy, which needed to be stimulated into production to create jobs for the population.

President Muhammadu Buhari says that he will not support the devaluation of the naira because it will not be favourable to the Nigerian economy.

Buhari, who expressed the view in presidential media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, said devaluation benefitted developed countries of Europe and America because they were productive economies.

"I have to be convinced before accepting the devaluation of the naira. Which country’s currency do we devalue the naira against?

"Devaluation is done between developed countries, in Nigeria; we are still importing ordinal toothpicks.

"We have banned the importation of toothpicks and goods we waste our foreign currency on,’’ he said.

The president said his priorities were not "people wanting to bring rice and luxury goods which do not encourage economic growth''.

He said the country needed to invest in capital projects, especially in power, railways, roads and fight terrorism to create employment for the populace.

He said his administration had taken note of countries that were prepared to invest in Nigeria in spite of insecurity.

"Our main priority is to secure this country so that investors will not be scared of investing in any of the sector,’’ Buhari said.

Commenting on the challenges people are facing in accessing foreign exchange, he said foreign exchange would be made available to the productive sector of the economy and not for luxury items.

He stressed the need for Nigerians to re-order their priorities based on social realities.

dimeji akinloye