… as naira remains stable after holiday
Foreign exchange market opened on Tuesday after the New Year holiday with little activities, as the naira closed stable.
Naira on Tuesday closed at N305 per dollar at the interbank spot market while it close at N490/$ at the parallel market.
The Bureau De Change (BDC) operators are expected to pay about N750 million to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the renewal of their operating licence.
This implies that each 3,000 registered BDCs will pay a total of N25,000 to renew their licences. Aminu Gwadabe, acting president, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), told BusinessDay that some of his members were ready to renew their licence but were waiting to confirm the account details for payment.
Gwadabe said the foreign exchange trading would resume fully next week when the BDCs start getting allocation from the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).
However, currency dealers expect depreciation of the naira against the dollar to continue in the week as the scarcity of the greenback continues.
“In the week ahead, we expect pressure on the naira to linger, especially at the parallel market, as unmet demand from the official market continues to stoke imbalances,” United Capital analysts said in a research note to clients on Tuesday.
The naira lost around a third of its official value against the dollar in 2016 and the stock market declined 6.17 percent over the same period, reflecting a slump in Africa’s largest economy, Reuters reports.
