Naira Drops To 980 Per Dollar, Fx Shortage Worsens

The value of the naira against the dollar has continued to decline, reaching 980 naira per dollar in the parallel market on Wednesday.

A week earlier, the exchange rate was 950 naira per dollar. Bureau de Change operators, in conversation with The PUNCH, attributed this depreciation to a shortage of foreign currency.

Idris Musa, one of the BDC operators, stated, “Today, we bought and sold the naira at rates of 965/$ and 980/$, highlighting the scarcity of dollars.” Yusuf Kareem, another BDC operator, expressed uncertainty about whether the exchange rate would continue to rise or potentially stabilize.”

However, on the FMDQ at the Investor & Exporter forex window, the naira appreciated slightly after closing at 770.71/$ on Wednesday from 776.76/$ on Tuesday.

The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, recently, urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to grant Bureaux De Change operators digital autonomy to achieve exchange rate convergence.

In a statement, the President, ABCON Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, called on the apex bank to grant a no objection approval for the BDCs to fully go digital on all their operational correspondences.

Gwadabe said foreign currencies by BDCs were derived from private sources and other sources which may include the CBN window as determined by the CBN any time for the purpose of funding Business Travel Allowance, Personal Travel Allowance, School Fees Payment abroad, Medicals, mortgage, personal home remittances and subscription.

He said ABCON had training compliance officers to ensure they were acquainted with what was required of them, especially on monthly rendition of results and tracking illicit capital flows through compliance.

According to Gwadabe, BDCs were complying with the rendition of suspicious transactions reports as directed by NFIU, CBN, and EFCC.

He said BDCs were required to comply with all extant rules & regulations prescribed by the CBN, while the CBN closely supervised and monitored their operations.

Punch