The naira’s downward spiral has reached another historical low under the President Muhammadu Buhari regime, currently trading at 800 against the dollar on the parallel exchange platform Aboki Forex.
Peoples Gazette checks on Saturday revealed that the current parallel market rate is N800 to a dollar and N890 to British pound sterling.
The Gazette had reported on Friday that the naira which had been consistently dropping in value exchanged at 785 against the dollar.
The free fall continues as the ban on Bureau the Change operators remain in place and the Mr Buhari regime announced plans to redesign the country’s currency in response to the country’s economic woes.
The governor of the central bank, Godwin Emefiele, announced on Wednesday that new naira notes would be issued by December 15.
Mr Emefiele stated that the move, which has since been approved Mr Buhari and other stakeholders, was certain to boost the value of the naira.
Following the latest announcement, politicians have continued to approach BDC operators to easily convert their soon-to-expire stockpiled naira to foreign currencies, as the apex bank gave all Nigerians six weeks to return all old naira notes to the bank’s vault.
In 2021, the CBN prohibited the sale of foreign exchange to BDC operators in a bid to arrest the fast fall of the country’s currency. The apex bank had accused the BDCs of unauthorised sales of foreign exchange above the market they were authorised to serve.
BDC operators were a significant part of the black market before the ban, helping people who couldn’t legally access foreign currencies directly from the CBN to maintain their exchange rates.
