SAN FRANCISCO, February 11, (THEWILL) – The naira on Thursday witnessed the all-time-high level of depreciation against the dollar, in recent times, as scarcity of foreign exchange (FX) persists in the markets, according to THEWILL investigations.
The naira weakened by N14 or 4.49 percent against the dollar at the parallel market after it closed at N326/$ compared with N312/$ traded on Tuesday.
It lost N13 or 4.19 percent against the greenback to close at N323/$ on Thursday, from N310/$ on Wednesday at the autonomous market.
The local currency remained stable at N199.35/$ at the inter-bank FX market. Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) clearing rate remained stable at N197/$ at the inter-bank market.
Aminu Gwadabe, acting president, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), said the scarcity of dollar was till biting had at the FX markets.
“No dollar. Demand is higher than supply. It is gloomy,” Gwadabe said, saying the CBN should issue a circular directing banks and international oil companies to sell dollar to BDCs, adding that the CBN could peg a limit to the quantity of dollar to be sold.
“We see the naira falling further in the coming days if the central bank fails to lift dollar restrictions,” Gwadabe added.
Ghana’s cedi is seen easing slightly on an expected increase in dollar demand from local firms. There are also speculations that Nigerian businesses may be using local subsidiaries to buy dollars from Ghana due to restrictions in Nigeria, Reuters report.
After weakening nearly 4 percent in January on seasonal dollar demand from local importers and speculative buyers, the cedi has been stable in recent weeks. It was quoted at 3.96 to the dollar at 11:22 GMT on Thursday.
“There has also been a suspicion of a possible spill-over of demand from some Nigerian traders as the dollar is reported to be scantily supplied especially on their parallel market,” analyst Joseph Biggles Amponsah of Dortis Research said.
The Kenyan shilling is expected to firm, mainly due to global weakening of the dollar against emerging market currencies. The shilling has been stable this year after weakening 11 percent in 2015.
At 1255 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling at 101.80/90, stronger than last Thursday’s close of 102.10/20.
Recall that the Senate Committee on Education had raised the alarm over the padding of personnel cost of parastatal in the Education Ministry to the tune of N10 billion.
This, she said, was responsible for padding in the personnel cost of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the current budget defense.
Story by David Oputah
