Nigeria’s national currency, the Naira, on Thursday continued its downward spiral in the parallel market, selling for N543 to the dollar, an all-time low, sending fears of unprecedented rise int eh prices of goods in the country.
Sources said that while Bureau de Change operators in Abuja bought dollar at N540, they sold at N543. For the British Pound the trading rate at the parallel market is £1/N740.
The sliding down of the Naira began 44 days ago (June 27, 2021) when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) barred the sale of Forex to all Bureau de Change operators across the country, saying the parallel market had become a conduit for illicit Forex flows and graft.
The CBN also said it would no longer process applications for BDC licences in the country.
Weekly sales of foreign exchange by the CBN will henceforth go directly to commercial banks, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said.
The Committee of Banks Chief Executive Officer headed by the CEO of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, had stated on July 29 that the exchange rate would drop to around N423 to the dollar on the parallel market.
Similarly, on August 9, 2021, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said the Naira would rise in the parallel market towards 490-495 against the dollar in August/September.
However, since the CBN’s latest Forex policy began in late June, the highest the Naira has reached on the parallel market is N504/$1.
This story originally appeared in PUNCH