Naira Crashes To N485/$1 At Parallel Market

The naira crashed to N485 to a dollar on Tuesday from the previous N475/$1 range at the parallel market.

This is in spite of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warning that forex speculators and hoarders will be punished.

It was learnt that speculators have continued to stash dollars and cash-out as the naira continues on a free fall.

Checks at the parallel market on Tuesday showed that the naira exchanged at N485/$1. The naira also traded N410/ $1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.

President Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadabe, who spoke on the development, blamed the naira woes on forex speculators and black market forex dealers.

He said henceforth, the licensed BDCs will be actively involved in dealing with speculators.

Market dealers also attributed the naira depreciation at the parallel market to speculators causing artificial scarcity of the dollar within the market.

Gwadabe said BDCs will continue to support the CBN to defend the naira through compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), supporting CBN’s exchange rate stability policies.