The naira fell to N818/$1 at the parallel market on Monday in Abuja and N815 in Lagos as it continued to lose its value.
According to Daily Trust, the naira is currently under high selling pressure in the black market following CBN’s announcement that the newly redesigned naira notes would start circulating in the economy from December 15, 2022.
Since the apex bank made this announcement last week, the naira has fallen from its initial record low of N765/$1, losing over N53 in five days, further piling pressure on the local currency.
At Bureau De Change hub in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, several customers came looking for dollars but had difficulty accessing it.
Customers who wanted to purchase $10,000 couldn’t get any BDC who had up to that amount of dollars to sell. Some of the BDCs said they didn’t even have $5,000 to sell.
Some of the operators confirmed there was a spike in demand following the CBN’s announcement that it will introduce new currencies.
Operators said they’ve seen an unusual demand and mop-up in the past few days.
One of the operators who identified himself as Ismailia Yusuf said the US dollar was very scarce. He also said the EFCC had visited the BDCs to scavenge for those offloading naira for dollars.
He couldn’t confirm if arrests were made but he did say operators were careful of exchanging huge amounts of naira for dollars.
It was not immediately clear if the scarcity is also a result of operators hoarding the dollars to create more scarcity and make more profit.
Another operator, Nura, said before the announcement by the CBN, they could do an exchange for up to $500,000 and sometimes $1m exchange but it’s no longer possible.
‘Customers rarely take dollars for sale’
Nura said even the walk-in customers rarely take dollars for sale and that might have impacted the scarcity as well.
He also hinted that some BDCs were being invited to the houses of politically exposed persons to plan how to secure forex to avoid the eagle eye of the EFCC.
“Some people with huge cash can invite BDCs operators to their homes to buy dollars and that might already be happening,” he said.
A survey at some of the black markets in Lagos revealed that bureau de change operators bought dollars for between N790 and N800 while they sold for between N795 and N805.
An operator at Allen Roundabout in Lagos, Ismail Muhammed said dollars were still selling for less than N800/$1 as against the speculated N815.
“I buy for between N780 and N785 while I sell for between N785 and N790. The dollar has not reached N800. It is all speculation,” he said.
Another operator, Alhaji Nafiu Isah, said that the dollar was on the rise and might reach N820 before the end of the week.
“I buy for N800 and sell for N805 for now but it is on the rise and might get to N820 or N830 very soon,” he said.
Alhaji Abdullahi Olugbede said he was willing to buy for as high as N807 if the volume was higher than $4,000.
It would be recalled that the CBN barred the sale of Forex to BDCs operators across the country in July 2021. The CBN said the parallel market had become a conduit for illicit forex flows and graft.