The naira, on Monday, weakened further at N500 to the dollar after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adjusted the exchange rate across foreign exchange market segments on Friday last week.
At the Bureau de Change segment of the market, the naira weakened further by N5 as the dollar sold for N500 on Monday, as against N495 on Friday.
By implication, the naira has lost N140 year-on-year when compared with N360 as at November 2019 when it stood at N360, and N1.25 day-on-day compared to N496.5 on Friday.
The CBN had, on Friday, announced the devaluation of the naira and urged Bureau de Change operators in the country not to sell dollars higher than N392 to end users.
In the circular signed by O.S. Nnaji, director of trade and exchange at the CBN, the apex bank said the volume of sales for each market is $10,000 per Bureau de Change (BDC).
“Please be advised that the applicable exchange rate for the disbursement of proceeds of international money transfer service operators (IMTOs), for the period Monday, November 30 to Friday, December 14, 2020, is as follows: IMTSOs to banks – N388/$1; Banks to CBN – N399/$1; CBN to BDCs – N390/$1; BDCs to end-users not more than N392/$1,” it read.
The foreign exchange has come under intense pressure following the decline in crude oil prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, singer, David Adeleke, popularly called Davido, expressed his frustration with the rising dollar rate in Nigeria.
The Fem singer took to his Twitter account to lament, saying that he almost cried when he changed dollars to naira.
Dollar don reach 500 … I changed naira to dollar today and I almost cried smh this country nawa
The foreign exchange crisis in the country has generated concerns in recent weeks, with the pressure on the naira at the parallel market, despite the assurances by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The parallel market had responded to the fresh devaluation of the naira amidst growing foreign exchange illiquidity. The local currency weakened to N500/$ at the black market over the weekend.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had adjusted the value of the naira by N6 against the dollar on Friday. That was the third time the naira would be officially devalued this year.
In a weekly exchange rate for disbursement of proceeds of International Money Transfer Service Operators issued on Friday, market dealers, including bureau de change players and service providers, were advised to add N6 to existing rates.
TheCable/SaharaReporters
