Naira Crashes More Against Dollar At Parallel Market
Naira crashes more against the dollar at the parallel market. The naira depreciation can be traced to forex speculators and hoarders who cause scarcity in the market.
Market dealers also ascribed the naira depreciation to speculators at the parallel market, causing artificial scarcity of the dollar within the market.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) warned that forex speculators and hoarders would be punished. But despite the warning, speculators have continued to hide dollars as naira continues to fall.
Checks at the parallel market on Tuesday the 16th of March showed that the naira rate was at N485/$1.
The naira also exchanged at N410/ $1 at the I&E Forex window.
Aminu Gwadabe, the President, Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), blamed the naira issues on forex speculators and black market forex dealers when speaking about the development.
He further expressed that; the licensed BDCs will be actively involved in dealing with speculators.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators will not standby and watch the currency business destroyed by currency speculators and black market dealers who do not answer to any authority.”
Market dealers also ascribed the fall in naira at the parallel market to speculators causing fake scarcity of the dollar within the market.
Other market dealers also blamed the naira’s continued decline on a heightened forex supply inadequacy, demand pressure, and budgeting.
Gwadabe said BDCs would do its best to support the CBN and defend the naira by agreeing with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) supporting CBN’s exchange rate stability policies.
He said every BDC operator needed full knowledge and understanding of how to report both the dubious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) to regulators, understand the duty of registering and recording reports on the NFIU goAML -Anti-Money Laundering portal, and genuine documentation of all forex sales.
He stated that all BDCs should file their reports as and when due weekly to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, CBN, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and Know Your Customer (KYC).
“Be at alert in your operations because the CBN inspector can investigate you at any time.
“All BDCs should nominate Compliance Officers and Data Protection Officers as instructed by the CBN. The nomination is also in-line with the global best practices.
He also advised, “Also, avoid sending your returns late, selling dollars above the CBN approved rate.”
Gwadabe said that by following set guidelines, the operators would form an excellent example in their operational methods and make forex buyers lose confidence in black market dealers.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, recently said that the ‘Naira 4 Dollar’ policy was meant to increase remittance inflows’ transparency and reduce activities that seek rent.
He expressed that he was optimistic the new policy measure would encourage banks and financial institutions to develop products and investment vehicles geared towards attracting Nigerians’ investments in the diaspora.
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