The naira yesterday continued its free fall against major foreign currencies, as it traded at N1005 per dollar at the black market with Bureau De Change (BDC) dealers predicting more troubles ahead for the currency.
BDC dealers who spoke in Abuja yesterday fixed their buying price for the dollar between N1005 and N1006 while they sell at N1010 per dollar.
The Euro also gained against the naira after rising by N10 from N1050 traded on Monday to N1060 at the close of yesterday.
The currency also lost at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market formerly I&E Window from N773.5 to N781 per dollar.
Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis has been out of the control of the CBN since the apex bank introduced a managed float system in the management of the country’s foreign exchange.
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Former acting CBN governor Folashodun Shonubi introduced the float on the directive of President Bola Tinubu who said the monetary policy needs “housecleaning”.
Tinubu appointed Yemi Cardoso as the new CBN boss after the suspended governor Godwin Emefiele allegedly resigned as claimed by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
When Cardoso was confirmed by the Senate, he vowed to tackle the foreign exchange crisis which had frustrated investments in the Nigerian economy.
But the President of the Association of Bureau de Change Change Owners of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadebe, had said that the naira lacked fundamentals which was further exposed by JP Morgan Chase & Co. in August.
JP Morgan had said Nigeria’s reserves were about $3.7bn by the end of 2022 which is contrary to the position of FX reserves paraded by the CBN.
A BDC dealer in Abuja, Abdulahi Jega, said the market has lost confidence in the local currency due to the country’s inability to get FX inflows.
He predicted that the naira may fall to N1030 per dollar in few weeks.
Jega said, “So many issues are influencing the prices of forex in the parallel market. Number one is that there is increasing demand which the supply cannot meet. Another problem is the manner in which the FX market is handled by the Nigerian government.
“If things are not properly handled, the naira may even fall to N1030 or worse than that in few weeks.”(Source: thewhistler.ng)
