Nigeria’s currency on Thursday strengthened against the dollar across foreign exchange markets after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) resumed dollar sales for school fees and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on Wednesday.
Naira gained N10 as one dollar was trading at N450 on Thursday as against N460 traded on Wednesday at the black market.
Investigation by BusinessDay showed that liquidity is improving but demand for dollar is low.
At the retail Bureau, Naira appreciated by N2.00k per dollar, which was trading at N465 on Thursday from N467 quoted on the previous day.
The market opened with an indicative rate of N385/$. This represents N1.04 gain in the value of the Naira when compared with N386.04 per dollar opened on Wednesday, data from FMDQ revealed.
The CBN said it had also made arrangements to resume foreign exchange sales to the BDC segment of the market for business travels, personal travels, and other designated retail uses, as soon as international flights resume.
The regulator on March 26, suspended foreign exchange sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators until further notice due to the Covid-19 lockdown as requested by the operators. The suspension notwithstanding, some BDCs are still active in the market.
Aminu Gwadabe, president of Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said the BDCs will return as soon as the lockdown in the international airport is relaxed.
Presently UAE and China have relaxed their lockdown on International boundaries, and Nigeria is expected to follow suit after the expiry of the 2-week lockdown the nation’s borders.
The return of the BDCs will be the iceberg for complete return to sanity in the market,devoid of hoarding and speculation, he said.
“I therefore want our members and the General public not to engage on panic buying as anytime soon fingers might be burnt from such behaviours,” Gwadabe said.
Hope Moses-Ashike
