By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira further depreciated against the US Dollar at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Thursday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that it will resume the suspended weekly forex sales to operators from Monday, August 31.
In a circular signed by the Director of Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN, Mr O.S. Nnaji, it was stated that BDCs must not exchange the naira at more than N386/$.
The apex bank said the decision to resume sales of the foreign currency to BDCs is to allow travellers to get forex as the country prepares to resume international flights from next week.
The federal government had announced yesterday that international flights will resume on September 5 instead of the initially announced August 29.
Providing a breakdown of the rates, the CBN said: “Please be advised that the applicable exchange rate for the disbursements of proceeds of IMTOs for the period Monday, August 31 to Friday, September 04, 2020, is as follows:
IMTSOs to banks: N382/$1; Banks to CBN: N383/$1; CBN to BDCs: N384/$1; and BDCs to end-users: Not more than N386 volume of sale to each market is $10,000 per BDC.
The apex bank said FX sales to BDCs will hold on Mondays and Wednesdays in the first instance.
A look at the performance of the Naira against the US Dollar at the BDC window yesterday, according to data gathered by Business Post from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators (ABCON), showed that the local currency dropped against the greenback across the four major locations tracked.
At the Lagos BDC market, the domestic currency depreciated by 40 kobo against the Dollar to sell for N477/$1 as against the previous rate of N476.60/$1, while it appreciated by N1 against the Pound to close at N617/£1 versus N618/£1 and closed flat on the Euro at N552/€1.
In Abuja, the local currency weakened against the US Dollar by N2 to N477/$1 from N475/$1 and remained unchanged against the Pound at N620/£1 and as well traded flat against the Euro at N555/€1.
At the Port Harcourt market, the Naira lost 50 kobo against the greenback to close at N476/$1 in contrast to N475.50/$1 it previously closed but appreciated by N2 on the Pound to N612/£1 from N614/£1 and closed flat against the Euro at N553/€1.
At the Kano BDC market, the local currency depreciated by N2 against the American currency to quote at N477/$1 as against N475/$1 on Wednesday and fell by N13 against the Pound to N608/£1 from N595/£1 while on the Euro, it lost N4 to trade at N552/€1 versus N548/€1.
At another segment of the market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Naira gained 25 kobo against the greenback to close at N385.75/$1 in contrast to N386/$1 a day before.
At the close of the session, investors exchanged a total of $43.16 million compared to the previous session’s $14.47 million, indicating a day-on-day rise of 198.3 per cent or $28.69 million.
At the black market, the local currency remained stable against the American currency at N477/$1. It, however, lost N3 each on the Pound and the Euro to close at N615/£1 and N555/€1 from N612/£1 and N552/€1 respectively.
At the interbank window yesterday, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained at N379/$1.
Dipo Olowookere