“There Was Concern When Naira Traded At 500 To Dollar”

Local beverage firms were very concerned about losing the market at the point when the naira depreciated to the extent of trading at 500 to a dollar, those were the words of Mr. Roland Ebelt, the Managing Director, Lacasera Company.

Ebelt, who said this while speaking with The Punch Newspaper, admitted that at that point, the purchasing power of the average Nigerian had been eroded.

He added that there were concerns that this would affect the sale of beverages.

He said: “There was real concern. There was real fear that we will have to increase the prices by so many margins that the customers would no longer buy our products and these products are bought by virtually everybody in Nigeria, just like water.

“So that was the fear that the market that had been growing so nicely all these years would suddenly cease to exist.”

President of ABCON warns that political spending may threaten Naira stability in 2018

Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has warned that spending by politicians ahead of the 2019 General Elections may threaten the stability of the naira.

Gwadabe, who made this known while speaking with Newsmen on Sunday in Lagos, said that the propensity to hoard dollars now, to be spent during political campaigns, was not new to the nation’s political history.

“Political spending may affect exchange rate stability in 2018. Naira “Electioneering starts early this time and the tendency for people to hoard the dollar now, to be spent during the campaigns, was not new,’’ Gwadabe said.

The ABCON chief, therefore, called on the regulatory authorities and security operatives to ensure that currency hoarders and speculators do not leverage on the 2019 elections to erode the gains recorded in the nation’s foreign exchange market.