> The naira is seen depreciating further and may hit the 500 mark to the dollar at the parallel market
> This is because the greenback scarcity persists
> The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cuts supply to foreign exchange operators
A report by Reuters indicates that the naira may hit the 500 mark to the dollar at the parallel market.
CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele and his team are yet to find a solution to Nigeria's economic problems
The naira was trading around N495 to the dollar on the black market on Thursday, December 22 compared to 485 per dollar last week due to dollar shortages, traders quoted in the report said.
The naira was quoted at 310.5 to the dollar on the official interbank window on that same day by commercial lenders.
A trader quoted in the report said: “There is an acute shortage of dollars in the market because of supply being slashed by half to Bureau de Change operators from international money transfer agents, pushing the naira down.”
The BDC operators are now getting $8,000 each per week from Travelex against the usual $15,000 each per week.
The naira had tumbled against the dollar to 490 on Monday, December 18 from 487 last Friday, December 15 as acute shortage of the greenback continued to batter the Nigerian economy and the country’s foreign exchange markets.
Before last Friday, the naira had consecutively closed flat at 485 for four days in the previous week.
The severe shortage of the dollar has put the naira under persistent pressure at both the official and parallel forex markets.
Meanwhile, economic and financial experts have predicted that the naira will weaken further against the dollar as yuletide celebrations kicks off.
They also argued that the crackdown on the black market forex traders and the persistent scarcity of the greenback would make further weakening of the local currency inevitable.
In a related development, dollar shortages have caused many companies to halt operations and lay off workers, compounding the economic recession.
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