Naira slumps further, exchanges at 485/$1, as BDCs blame speculators

The naira’s value has dropped even further in both the official and parallel markets at the end of trading on Friday.

At the black market, data shows naira sold for N485 per dollar on Friday. This represents a N0.1 or 0.21 percent depreciation from the previous rate of N484.00, which it has been trading at since May 14.

The last time Naira sold for N485 per unit was on May 5th.

Similarly, the exchange rate at the Investor & Exporter forex window of the official market, Data from FMDQ shows naira closed at N412.00, from N411.31 in the previous session on Thursday.

This represents a depreciation of N0.69, or 0.17 percent, and also a three-month low in value.

The last time I&E window traded at Friday’s rate was on March 8.

The depreciation of naira occurred as forex turnover also fell by 25.30 percent to $89.72 million from $120.08 million recorded on Thursday.

At the end of this week’s trading, the difference between the exchange markets was N73.

Meanwhile, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe president of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has revealed that CBN funds it’s members account at the rate of 393 not the flexible exchange rate above N410.

Read also: Naira continues free fall against U.S dollar

Warning foreign exchange speculators that they could lose over N100 billion in the next one month.

Gwadabe said, “The ABCON and CBN have observed with disdain the speculative behaviour currently beclouding the market with the misinformation that the CBN has adopted I&E window as its official rate.

“The above information is not true because as operators, we still funded our accounts at our normal rates of N393/$ and not the I&E window rates for our operation this Friday.”

He was quoted in a statement as saying the CBN was committed to improving funding for over 5,000 BDCs nationwide in a new move to deepen market liquidity and protect the naira against speculators.

He linked the continued fall of the naira at the parallel market and I&E window to currency speculators hoarding dollars to profit from the currency crisis.

He said the speculators were creating artificial scarcity of the greenback in the market to cause more woes for the local currency.

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