• Dollar Free Fall Continues, Sells at N425/dollar

The dollar free fall continued as the Naira strengthened across all segments.

The Nigerian Naira gained N20 against the US dollar on Tuesday to close at N425, from N445 it traded on Monday.

At the Bureau De Change segment, the local currency was sold at N425 to a dollar and bought at N415. While the Pound Sterling was bought at N500 and sold at N510, the Euro was sold for N425 and bought for N420.

Some of the BDC operators said that the provision of forex by the CBN to the commercial banks was responsible for the appreciation of the naira in the market.

Mr Sani Ahmed, one of the operators said that the best way to crash the high rate in the market was the continuous injection of liquidity into the market.

According to him, the appreciation of the naira is a good development for the BDC operators and other investors who require forex for their businesses.

He said, “Now that the naira is appreciating, we make more profit because if you buy at the lower rate, you sell and make gain.

“When the cost of dollar is high, we make little profit; but when it is low, we make more profit because we buy more to sell.”

He, however, said that there was the challenge of accessing the forex from the commercial banks because of the stringent measures stipulated by the deposit money banks to obtain the forex.

“If someone applies for forex from the banks, it takes time and the process is frustrating; sometimes, they make additional demands before they issue forex to you,” Ahmed said.

Experts have, however, expressed concern about the sustainability of the measures by the apex bank.

An economic expert, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, admitted that a complete currency float was capable of unifying rates and reducing round tripping and speculative activities in the market.

He, however, said that such a measure could be suicidal for an import-dependent economy that derived much of its forex inflow from a single commodity.

He, therefore, recommended coordinated fiscal policies designed to encourage import substitution and enhance competitiveness of local production to help reverse the downward trend in the value of naira.