President Muhammadu Buhari has again, made it known that he would not devalue the naira.

Buhari said on Thursday, that any move to devalue the naira would definitely kill the currency.

The President said he was not ready to inflict more hardship on the poor citizens of Nigeria.

He stressed that while export-driven economies could benefit from devaluation of their currencies, Naira devaluation will only result in further inflation and hardship on the poor and middle classes in Nigeria’s import-dependent economy.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu from Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, Buhari stated that he was yet to be convinced by the proponents of devaluation that ordinary Nigerians would benefit from the policy.

Buhari also rejected suggestions that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should resume the sale of foreign exchange to Bureaux de Change (BDCs), saying that the Bureau de Change business had become a scam and a drain on the economy.

“We had just 74 of the bureaux in 2005, now they have grown to about 2,800.

“We will use our foreign exchange for industry, spare parts and the development of needed infrastructure.

“We don’t have the Dollars to give to the BDCs. Let them go and get it from wherever they can, other than the Central Bank,” he said.

Buhari also maintained his suspicion that about a third of petroleum subsidy payments under the previous administration was fake.

“They just stamped papers and collected our foreign exchange,” he said.

He therefore appealed to Nigerians studying abroad to bear with his administration as it strive to address the challenges they are experiencing as a result of new foreign exchange measures.

He said that he was optimistic that the Nigerian economy will stabilize soon with the efficient implementation of measures and policies that have been introduced by his administration.

Janeth J