Naira falls flat

The Nigeria’s naira floated mercilessly to a record low, Thursday as it exchanged at N376 to a dollar.

Yesterday  it was auctioned in both the official and parallel markets at N292.90 and N373 to the dollar.

Traders had expected the CBN to intervene to ease dollar shortages, but that did not materialise.

The naira’s free fall surprised many stakeholders, whose thinking is that the new flexible forex policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would stabilise the currency.

Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) President Aminu Gwadabe said commercial banks were playing big in the parallel market, manipulating naira rates against the greenback. 

He told The Nation that most lenders keep two books – one for the official rate and the other for dispensing dollar in the parallel market.

“Demand at the parallel market is rising seriously. The banks are now playing big in the parallel market and there is basically no operating rules in the market. It is a market of who is who controlled by the banks,” he said