By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

ABUJA — The nation’s Monetary Policy Committee, which advises the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on policy issues began its first meeting in the new year, in Abuja, yesterday, to review the money market and decide on how best to tackle the persistent pressure on the nation’s currency at the face of dwindling foreign exchange earnings.

The Naira has, for several months, been under attack from various fronts with capital flight, decreasing petro-dollars owing to crude oil price crash which forced the CBN to devalue the Naira from N155 – $1 to N168 – $1 and to raise interest rate from 12 to 13 per cent last November.

In spite of the devaluation, the pressure has continued unabated with the Naira exchanging at about N192 to $1 at the parallel market, across major cities, at the weekend.

With a crude oil price of less than $50 per barrel, there are fears that the currency value could crash further, given that the nation’s only main foreign exchange source remained proceeds of crude oil sales.

CBN dep gov cries out over fake facebook

Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Economic Policy, Dr. Sarah Alade, has cried out over activities of internet fraudsters whom she claimed, have opened a fake facebook account in her name, ostensibly to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

She said she had no facebook account and that the one bearing her name was the handiwork of impostors and that the public should see it so.