The sudden freefall of the Nigerian Naira versus the US dollar has caused widespread shock and alarm in the banking and investment industries.
Nigeria's naira hit a record low of 1,200 per dollar on the black market, online platform abokiFX showed, a day after the currency hit a new low on the official market due to persistent dollar shortages.
The naira has been in freefall on the unofficial market, where it trades freely, which worsened after currency restrictions were lifted on the official market.
Last month, the currency slid past 1,000 naira per dollar on the black market and continued to weaken as excess dollar demand is funnelled into the informal market from the official market.
Africa’s largest economy currency traded lower at N1,330 to a dollar recently for those that demanded wired transfer.
“The dollar is not available because now the BDC operators can only get FX from customers and at the moment customers are controlling the market so if you want to buy from a customer,
he will not agree to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate. says Bureau de change (BDC) operator, Ishaq Ammar Sulaiman.
Some say the naira depreciation is attributed to persistent dollar shortages in the financial system, and being driven by new demands as import bills rose on 43 unbanned items recently by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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