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Naira weakens further to 265 against dollar
’Femi Asu
The naira extended its losses against the United States’ dollar on Monday at the parallel market, falling to 265 from 263 on Sunday.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention on Wednesday is expected to lift the currency at the unofficial market, an industry operator told our correspondent.
The nation’s currency had closed at 262 against the greenback before the New Year holiday started on Wednesday. After the Christmas holiday, the local currency rose from 265 to 260.
Currency analysts have predicted that the naira will remain weak against the dollar at the parallel market until the first week of January following the suspension of foreign exchange sale by the CBN.
The interbank forex market, which was closed before the Christmas holiday, opened on Monday.
The suspension is a normal practice in the financial services sector before the Christmas and the New Year holidays.
The Acting President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, told our correspondent on Monday that the CBN would sell $10,000 each to the BDC operators on Wednesday.
He said the weekly forex sale was expected to impact positively on the parallel market rates.
Forex scarcity, which has been causing persistent decline in the nation’s external reserves, is forcing the CBN to ration dollar supply to the banks, importers, the BDCs and the general public.
The foreign reserves declined by 15.61 per cent year-on-year to $29.13bn by December 29, from $34.52bn a year ago, data from the central bank showed.
The CBN had recently cut its weekly forex sale to the BDCs from $30,000 to $10,000 each.
Earlier, the central bank had refused to sell forex to over 1,600 BDCs over their failure to provide necessary documents for previous allocations. The development made the naira to fall from 241 to 280 at the parallel market two weeks ago.
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