The ceaseless bashing of the naira continued yesterday as all the government’s efforts to curb the sliding value of the currency failed as it sink to a new low of 327 to the dollar.
The slide in the value of the naira is attributed by many to the huge scarcity in dollars brought about by the dwindling foreign exchange resources inflow into the economy and coupled with the exclusion of the Bureau De Change operators from accessing Nigeria’s forex market.
The Central Bank, last month, banned them from accessing its official window, citing various infractions, including round tripping and hoarding of US dollars. The massive depreciation came at the backdrop of over $100 million injected into the inter-bank segment by CBN yesterday, keeping the rates stable at N197 and N199 to one US dollar in CBN and inter-bank rates, respectively.
Black market operators said that since the apex bank stopped selling foreign currencies to Bureaux De Change, there have been acute shortages in the supply of the resources. The increased scarcity across the market segments was coming at a time it appeared there was demand surge coming from importers, who were unable to source from the CBN window, thereby putting pressure on the little resources available at the BDCs and street markets.
Operators believe CBN’s intervention in the inter-bank segment would not be able to stem the slide in the value of Naira in the parallel market unless the apex bank increases its volume of foreign currency sales and possibly revert to daily sales instead of once in a week intervention. This claim fuels speculations that even the foreign currencies sold to banks by CBN find their way into the parallel market.
