A former Director of Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Titus Okurounmu, has urged the Federal government to make concerted efforts to increase domestic production to check foreign exchange volatility.
Okurounmu, who gave the advice on Wednesday in Ota, Ogun State, emphasised the need to increase the country’s domestic production to address the continuous rise in inflation rate and check foreign exchange volatility.
According to him, if the country does not have anything to export, the exchange rate will continue to depreciate as there is no magic toward foreign exchange stability.
“There is urgent need to increase domestic production, especially food production because the country has regular and constant rain to support farming system.
“Also, the Federal government needs to create critical infrastructure like stable power supply, good road network, amongst others.
“That would help the manufacturing sector to produce at optimum level for both local consumption and export purposes,” he said.
Okurounmu, therefore, called on the governors of the 36 states to use their monthly allocations on capital projects and increase domestic production in their various states.
He also called on all tiers of government to fight corruption, saying that this had become the bane militating against economic growth.
Meanwhile, the Naira further weakened against the dollar at the foreign market on Wednesday.
FMDQ data showed that the naira slumped to N1,512.61 against the dollar on Wednesday from N1,509.45 on Tuesday.
This represents a N3.16 loss against the dollar compared to N1,509.45 traded on Tuesday.
Similarly, at the parallel foreign exchange market, the naira depreciated to N1,520 per dollar on Wednesday from N1,515 the previous day.
The development comes as foreign currency transaction turnover dropped to $114.91 million on Wednesday from $213.31 million on Tuesday, according to FMDQ data.