The naira continued its freefall on Thursday, crashing to 280 against the dollar at the parallel market. The naira, which was trading at between 241 and 243 against the greenback about three weeks ago, began a steady fall after the Central Bank of Nigeria stopped sale of foreign exchange to a number of Bureaux De Change Operators due to improper documentation.
In an interview with NewsWireNGR a business owner at the Wuse Market in Abuja lamented the situation, “with the way the naira is falling, our businesses are being affected and it seems Buhari doesnt know what to do about the economy, this is a festive season and sales have dropped” says Tanko Abdullahi..
Analysts said the development would lead to inflation and affect the profitability of businesses. The currency had tumbled to 269 against the United States dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria commenced rationing the greenback to Bureaux De Change operators in its weekly foreign exchange sale.
Okechukwu Orji, who sells fabric in an interview with our reporter, said ” we can no longer buy goods as the policy by the Nigerian government is affecting our businesses, even the customers arent coming, the economy is hitting hard on everyone, let the President start thinking, he noted.
The dollar was sold for 260 at the parallel market on Tuesday. The central bank cut the amount it sold to each of the 2,270 BDC operators that participated in Wednesday’s sale to $10,000, down from the $30,000 sold to the operators last Wednesday, the acting President, Association of Bureaux de Change Operators, Aminu Gwadabe, said.
The CBN had offered $84.5m at a similar sale two weeks ago, Reuters reported.
Plunging oil revenues, which account for 90 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign currency earnings and more than half of the Federal Government’s income, have hit public finances and the naira.
Businesses are struggling to access dollars as the CBN rations the greenback to save the foreign reserves.“There is dollar scarcity right now, the central bank has shrunk supplies despite increasing the number of BDCs at its window,” Gwadabe said.
