The Naira reached its lowest level in 48 years on Thursday, trading at between N540 and N545 to a US dollar in the country’s commercial capital, Lagos.
According to TheCable, bureau de change (BDC) operator, disclosed that the naira was on a rapid decline against the US dollar.
“For people that don’t buy today, it will be more expensive tomorrow,” Ibrahim Ahmad told TheCable by phone.
“The dollar was going for N530 earlier today, but now it’s N545, if you’re buying anything below $1,000.”
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Another BDC operator at Lagos Island, who pleaded anonymity, stated that he could not give an explanation for the sudden drop.
“We felt N530 was the worst we would see this year, but look at us selling at N540, and there’s no obvious reason for this shift,” he said.
“Maybe when people hear this and hit the market with dollars, they’d be an adjustment”.
Also, the British pound was trading at N740 across the same markets.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had announced in July that it would discontinue the sale of forex to BDC traders.
The apex bank maintains that the parallel market does not reflect the true state of the local Naira.
Deposit money banks were commissioned by the CBN in August to cover for the expected demand following its policy change.
According to TheCable, insiders at the CBN disclosed that the apex bank was not going to reverse its policy on the discontinuation of the sale of forex to BDC operators.
Anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is partnering with the CBN to rein in on banks who are involved in selling forex for unauthorised reasons.
