Naira has hit N590 against dollar at the black market ahead of Easter 2022.
Newsone reports that the Nigerian naira slumped further as the dollar to naira exchange rate hit 590 at the parallel market otherwise known as the black market on Easter 2022 eve.
This online news platform understands that some Bureau de Change operators better known as Abokis at the black market said the dollar was bought and sold at 585 and 590 on Easter 2022 eve.
Newsone Nigeria reports that the development is coming after the naira had earlier traded at N588 to the dollar at the beginning of the week, Monday, April 11, 2022. Also, at the Investor & Exporter forex window, the naira fell by 0.20 percent to close at N417.5 after reaching a high of N444.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led by Godwin Emefiele, however, maintained N416 as its official rate on its website. The CBN stopped forex allocation to the Bureau de Change operators in 2021 and later announced it would stop further interventions to the banks by the end of 2022.
The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria had solicited the CBN support in ensuring that Bureaux De Change operators continued to sell dollars to the retail end of the market.
In a notice to its members nationwide, ABCON National Executive Council appealed to the regulator to revisit the stoppage of dollar sales to BDCs to bring lasting stability to the naira.
The group disagreed with claims that naira has remained largely stable and converging following the stoppage of dollar allocation to BDCs. According to ABCON NEC, BDCs remain the most potent tool for the CBN to achieve its foreign exchange rate management.
It stated, “Our position to CBN is that our members should be considered in whatever mechanism of dollar supply to the end-users as it is done in other countries instead of a total blanket removal from the market.
“We, therefore, reject the statements claiming that the naira exchange rate has improved following stoppage of dollar sales to BDCs and urge our members to ignore those pronouncements.”
Newsone reports that the ABCON NEC said it would continue to take steps that ensure that the business of its members are restored and operators continue their legitimate operations as is done in other parts of the world.
