Naira Crashes, Dollar Sells For N420

On Thursday, the naira exchanged between N 405 and N 420 to one dollar in the Bureau De Change segment of the market.

The President , Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria , Aminu Gwadabe, said the crude oil price fell to $35 per barrel at the International market which led to speculations in the market.

Gwadabe said, “ With the fall in oil crude oil prices on Monday , we witnessed a lot of foreign investors portfolio dropping their assets , most especially to convert to cash.

“ The movement was as a result of recklessness on the side of the operators, when they want to speculate , but there is no reason for such because the Central Bank of Nigeria had continued to maintain support for liquidity to the BDC sub- sector. ”

While noting that the dollar sold for as high as N400 , he said sanity was gradually returning to the sector as it sold for N 375 by the close of the day.

According to him , the CBN had maintained stability at N 360 in more than three years. The CBN also expressed its displeasure on the issue in a statement , saying the speculative activities of unscrupulous players in the foreign exchange market was borne out of the impression that the CBN was on the verge of devaluing the Naira , and triggering panic in the FX Market.