Dollar shortage heightens on travel, school fees demand

The pressure on foreign exchange continued Tuesday, following demand pressure from travel and fun seekers and school fees, leading to the naira closing at a record low of $485 per dollar at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the same as last week.

Investigation shows that a total of 2,500 BDC operators got dollar allocation at the rate of $8,000 each from Travelex, a global currency dealer.

The BDCs now sell the dollar at the rate of N85 higher than the N400 earlier agreed with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Reacting to this, Aminu Gwadabe, acting president, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said the spike is contained as a result of the disbursement to BDCs nationwide.

“There is a lot of pressure on the market due to Christmas and end of year travels and payment of school fees”, Gwadabe said.

Nigeria plans to sell N83.24 billion ($264.25 million) in short-dated treasury bills at an auction on Dec. 22, the central bank said on Tuesday.

 

HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE