Naira Struggles For Stability As External Reserves Gain

The naira dipped slightly after it exchanged for N474/$ at the parallel market on Monday.

It had earlier exchanged for 473/$ for most of last week.

At the Investors & Exporters forex window, it closed at N388/$ after it had reached a high of N415/$.

The country’s external reserves rose by $930m from $35.37bn as of December 31, 2020 to $36.30bn as of January 14, 2021, figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria had revealed.

According to the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, the Central Bank had continued to ensure it achieved exchange rate stability.

It had also continued to ensure that foreign exchange was made available to manufacturers and end users who needed the funds for their medical trips, school fees payment, travel allowances among others.

ABCON noted that the funding of the Bureaux De Changes had also helped to deepen the forex market and reduced the level of forex scarcity that always formed the basis for speculative activities.

The ABCON said beyond trading within set rules, a liquid forex market would always be a disincentive for speculative activities.

It said it was necessary to deepen forex market by making BDCs agents of International Money Transfer Operators.

This move would help attract more dollars to the economy and promote more diaspora remittances, it added.

The President, ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said the apex bank should leverage the over 5,000 licensed BDCs across the country to get dollars seamlessly to beneficiaries.

Gwadabe said this would help in providing a more convenient channel for Nigerians in the diaspora to remit funds back to the country to boost economic development.