Naira Gains in Official Market as Black Market Traders Quote New Rates After CBN Revokes Licences
- The naira rallied against the dollar in the official foreign exchange market on Friday, March 1, 2024
- The Nigerian currency, however, lost about N100 and depreciated by 6.67% to trade at N1600 per dollar in the parallel market
- The development followed the revocation of licenses of 4,173 Bureau de Change operators in Nigeria
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported Tech, Energy, Stocks, Investment and the Economy for over a decade.
On Friday, March 1, 2024, the Nigerian currency reversed days of gains at the parallel market and crashed to N1,600 per dollar.
The naira depreciated by N100 or 6.67% against the dollar in the parallel market in an apparent response to CBN’s action against currency traders.
Source: Getty Images
The naira appreciates in official market
Bureau de Change (BDC) operators quoted the buying rate at N1,550 and the selling rate at N1,600.
At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the Nigerian currency appreciated against the US dollar on Friday, March 1, 2024, to trade at N1,48.25 against the US dollar, indicating a 2.94% increase from the N1,595 per dollar sold on Thursday, February 29, 2024.
Traders quoted the naira at an intraday high of N1,652 and a low of N1,400 per dollar.
CBN revokes licenses of BDC operators
On Friday, March 1, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced revoking the licences of 4,173 BDC operators in Nigeria for failing to observe regulatory guidelines.
According to reports, the CBN is revisiting the regulatory and supervisory guidelines for BDC operations in Nigeria.
The development follows a series of reforms by the apex bank to sanitise the Forex market amid accusations of currency manipulation and fixing by crypto exchange platforms.
FG hits Binance with $10 billion fine
The Nigerian government earlier announced a fine of $10 billion against Binance, the world’s largest crypto platform, on Friday, March 1, 2024.
The government said it was slamming the platform with the fine for fixing Forex rates on its platform, leading to Binance turning off its naira peer-to-peer feature.
On February 27, 2024, the CBN approved the sale of FX to about 785 BDC operators in Nigeria.
The financial institutions’ regulator said sellers of $10,000 and above to BDCs must declare the source of the FX.
Naira rebounds in the official market
Legit.ng also reported that the Nigerian currency experienced a slight depreciation in the parallel market, trading at N1,680 per dollar after days of gains.
In the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the naira gained about N82.52, trading at N1,582.94 per dollar compared to the N1,665.5 per dollar it closed on Friday, February 23, 2024.
The naira gained in the parallel market last week following the arrests of black market operators believed to be behind the currency’s fall.
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Source: Legit.ng
