Naira takes deep plunge as CNB closes more windows
The Nigerian Naira rolled downhill on Wednesday in the foreign exchange market after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shut out bureau de change operators from its trading windows.
At the parallel market where foreign exchange is most accessible to travelers and businesses, acute shortages pushed the Naira down on Wednesday, leaving the local currency helplessly at over N710 for a dollar.
The Naira had traded for N670 for a dollar at the market parallel on Monday, and the Wednesday’s slide indicated N40 value depreciation within two days.
The CBN has in the past suspended the parallel channel operated by the private forex traders on the grounds of scarcity and sharp market practices. It however rescinded the ban following huge supply gaps and bottlenecks in the market.
The licensed bureau de change players traditionally form parallel market which traded with allowable margins that make their rates higher. They provide foreign exchange support for cross border transactions and international travel for people who cannot access forex from money deposit banks.
The Oracle Today reports that a combination of poor economic management, official profligacy and brazen corruption in the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has seen the value of the Naira in exchange for the dollar in the foreign exchange market plummet from N180 in 2014 to N710 last Wednesday.
