Naira Crashes To N436/$ As Dollar Scarcity Worsens

   

The naira on Thursday fell to an all-time low of N436 against the United States dollar at parallel market, as against N428 it traded on Wednesday – as the scarcity of the greenback continues to persist.

Also at the interbank FX market, the local currency depreciated to N313.07 to the dollar on Thursday, from N310.08 to a dollar the previous day.

This is even as the country’s external reserves fell further to $24.759 billion as of September 21, 2016.

The situation on the parallel market was attributed to the refusal by banks to sell dollars to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators.

The President, Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr. Aminu Gwadabe, said none of his members were able to access dollars from banks as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“As I speak to you, no BDC has been able to access FX since Monday. It is very unfortunate that the liquidity in the market has dried up. That is too bad for the market.”

According to economic and currency analysts, there had been no significant policy response to the fall in the reserves, further fueling the concerns.