There are reports that currency traders otherwise known as Bureau De Change (BDC) operators have announced the shutdown of operations in Abuja due to the unavailability of dollars.
According to some officials, the apex bank believes some commercial banks hold long-term foreign exchange positions to enable them to profit from the volatile movements of exchange rates.
Naira has fallen to a record low of N1,515 per dollar following strong demand on the parallel market, also known as the black market, representing 1.32 per cent or N20.00 weaker than N1,495 it traded earlier on Thursday.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on Wednesday released a new circular addressing suspected cases of excessive foreign currency speculation and hoarding from Nigerian banks.
The current depreciation is unparalleled and stands as the lowest point in the historical performance of the Naira, reflecting the severity of the current economic challenges.
Market analysts attribute the recent decline to a sustained uptick in demand for the US dollar observed since the beginning of January.
President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadebe, in a chat kicked against the decision, saying that it is not ABCON’s position.
He said that there are procedures and channels for communicating grievances and not to just wake up one day and announce that you are closing the market.
Gwadebe said, ‘’that one is not our position; it’s not a professional way of handling things. When you shut market, you shut your leadership, you shut everything. Are you saying you are the ones printing dollars, that when you shut the market, the dollar will come down or go up, so what will your shutdown cause to the market?
‘’And imagine what the rates are doing now, the rates came down to about N1410, N1420 in Lagos, so imagine an association has directed you to shut your office and your business is falling like leaves from the tree and you are not there to quickly take decisions for your business, so who is suffering.
