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NAIRA FALL: CBN, Bureaux de Change trade blames

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CBN cancels all paper work for SMEs seeking dollars

The blame game on why Nigeria’s local currency, the naira, has defied all measures aimed at shoring up its value against major currencies continues.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the major players in the parallel market, the Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, have continued to blame the other for the problem.

The apex bank said it was shocked to notice that despite all its measures, naira has continued on a downward trend, exchanging for N460 per dollar as at last Thursday at the parallel market.

It exchanged for N449 the previous week following news report that CBN was about releasing more dollars into the system.

Though CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said the exchange rate of naira should not be based on what obtains at the parallel market, his aides said he was worried by the free fall of the currency.

In a bid to get a new angle to the problem, CBN was said to have summoned the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) for a meeting aimed at evolving practical steps to stem the tide.

Officials said the meeting could not achieve much as it ended up in each party blaming the other for the development.

A source at the meeting said while the CBN was blaming the parallel market operators for selling and buying dollars based on speculation, contrary to early warning against such practice, the operators accused the apex bank officials of inconsistency in policy, which has seen different policies and directives being issued in quick succession.

Read also: Why Nigeria’s foreign reserves keep shrinking –Adeosun

The operators cited for instance how the current restriction of CBN on banks customers’ use of their ATM cards to purchase goods and service abroad from their domiciliary accounts, has created fresh pressure on the banks and indirectly on the naira over dollars.

The ABCON President, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who confirmed that such meeting held, refused to give details of what transpired.

But a member put it this way: “Not much has been done to reduce the increased-demand pressure on dollar purchase in the Lagos market, which is the only one the CBN has allowed banks to have dealings with.

“With the yuletide around the corner, naira fall will go down further than the marginal expectation, even when the situation was normal; we usually go out of our ways to source for dollars at this time for the season.

“But with the recession, nobody can tell what the value of naira will be in the next two to three months, let’s hope it will not hit more than N500 per dollar.”

 

Experts said one of the solutions is to allow as many commercial banks as are willing to sell forex to the BDCs in any parts of the country, as against the current situation, which allows only two of the banks to attend to demands of forex outside Lagos.

By Emma Eke…..

 

 

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0 Comments

  1. victoria wilson

    November 1, 2016 at 11:14 am

    What is it with the blame game, is it that difficult for people to deliberate on issues and get solution to the problem without trading blames

    • Johnson Amadi

      November 1, 2016 at 3:25 pm

      This is what APC has brought to Nigerians, all they do is blame previous administrations for everything happening. The virus has infected CBN too, blaming ABCON.

  2. JOHNSON PETER

    November 1, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    It’s high time we stopped bureau de change from selling dollars. CBN should be the only source for selling or exchanging of dollars.

    • yanju omotodun

      November 1, 2016 at 2:29 pm

      You don’t know what you are saying. That will only worsen the situation.
      Why can’t we try other currency as our exchange money. The dollarization of the economy has done more harm than good.

      • Amaka Okoro

        November 3, 2016 at 3:04 am

        There is know worst situation here. If the CBN should be the only one selling dollar is more better than the bureau DE change

  3. Roland Uchendu Pele

    November 1, 2016 at 5:19 pm

    CBN is coming up with these findings very late, I think. Those operators in the parallel market have not helped matters in its fight for the Naira. It’s time they took valid decisions.

    • Amarachi Okoye

      November 3, 2016 at 2:59 am

      What ever decision they want to take let it be fast because there is know time to waste we need answers

  4. Joy Madu

    November 3, 2016 at 2:56 am

    I wonder what our president is doing about the increasement of dollar because very soon people will start robbing the CBN if nothing is being done about the increasement of dollar

  5. Nonso Ezeugo

    November 3, 2016 at 3:07 am

    Our government should please bring our dollar rate down because is really affecting the economic recession and our way of surviving

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