Naira falls on parallel market ...again!

The naira fell 1.22 percent against the dollar on the unofficial market on Thursday after nearly half of bureaux de change operators failed to secure dollars at a Central Bank of Nigeria sale due to incomplete documentation, Reuters revealed.

The currency was quoted at N246 against the dollar on the unofficial market, weaker than N243 the previous day. On the official interbank market the naira, which has been pegged against the greenback since February, traded at N197 to a dollar.

About 1,599 bureaux de change agents out of 2,818 operators were denied access to the foreign exchange sale on Wednesday, limiting dollar supply, president of Nigeria's bureau de change association, Aminu Gwadabe, told Reuters.

"The bureaux de change operators were denied access to the forex window because of their failure to file documentation backing previous purchases," said Gwadabe.

The central bank last week asked all bureaux de change operators to submit accounts showing their dollar usage at the start of each week before they can access future sales, a move traders say was aimed at curbing speculation.

The unofficial market accounts for less than 5 percent of total dollar trades in Nigeria. The bank sells around $30,000 to each operator every week.


Credit: ThisDay