The naira hit another record low of 241 against the dollar at the parallel market on Monday as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s restrictions on foreign exchange sale fuelled unofficial trade in dollars, Reuters reported.
The ban on importers from accessing the Nigerian foreign exchange markets for the importation of 41 items had led to the volatility of the naira-dollar exchange rate at the black market.
Since June 23 when the new forex rule became operational, the naira has fallen by 10.5 per cent from 218 to 241 against the greenback.
Foreign exchange dealers said the artificial scarcity of the United States currency still pervaded the market.
The new forex rule had led to huge demand at the parallel market, causing dealers to hoard the dollar in anticipation of further fall in the naira
Economic analysts had said the CBN needed to devalue the naira to allow the local currency achieve an equilibrium price against the dollar.
The central bank had however said it would not be focusing on the thinly-traded parallel market when determining the exchange rate, adding that people preferred to use the unofficial market for undocumented transactions.
Foreign investors had been on the sideline, waiting for the CBN to devalue the naira before investing in naira-denominated assets.
Local and foreign analysts had predicted that the naira might hit 250 against the dollar at the parallel market any time soon if the artificial scarcity trend continued.
The central bank appears to be in a fix as the spread between the official and parallel market continues to widen by the day.
Meanwhile, stocks fell to a more than three-month low and the naira on Monday, Reuters reported.
The local bourse, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, dropped for the ninth consecutive day as investors shed banking, consumer and oil shares. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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after buhari dethroned uncle shag in 1983...it was N3 to $1...but after two months in office $ flew to N18 to $1,, there was unprecedented inflation ,,back then in Uniben, students can no longer feed with 15kobo a day...the uniben authorities dismantled the Cafeteria system and initiated a Bukateria system , whereby you have to feed with about 50kobo a day....The same Guy is Back, so 9ja should brace up
ReplyDeleteGood Talk, God bless you 🍉
DeleteRoboCop NG's comment is totally incorrect. My Dad was in the University of Ibadan prior to December 1982, and he affirmed that feeding was already 50k per meal before PMB was the Head of State in 1983. Again, the US$ was not N18/$ even in 1984. NE should cross check comments before publishing.
Deletesome ideas are good on paper, but cannot be practiced
ReplyDeletewhy should new CBN governor ban importation of 41 items ?
america manufacture almost everything you can think of, yet they still import everything from bananas to china baby toys...
Nigeria is not there yet, so why ban importation of stuffs used by a greater majority of the poor populace.
Someone said Godwin Emiefele is already acting the IMF script... for real
Good one my guy history ll always be told
ReplyDelete