Nigerian Traders Lose As Dollar Crashes At Parallel Market

The naira, which has been falling against major currencies in the past two weeks, has staged a comeback, recording gains at the parallel market as it exchanged for about N730 to a dollar on Thursday.

The development came two weeks after the local currency came under severe pressure at the black market, following the announcement by the Federal Government to redesign the naira.

The naira which fell consistently throughout last week against the United States dollar tumbled to an all-time low of 910/dollar last weekend.

However, the currency began a rebound against the greenback on Monday, after a week-long clampdown on foreign exchange dealers in Abuja, Lagos, Kano and other major cities by the personnel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The clampdown on forex dealers was said to have forced several BDCs into hiding, a move that reportedly made many politically exposed persons and currency speculators hold back in their demand for the greenback.

Speaking with Punch on Thursday, a BDC operator at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Mustafa Abdullahi, said “Many of our people have lost hundreds of millions of naira due to the fall. Many of them bought the dollar when it was over N800. Now the US  currency has started falling and they are losing several millions. I personally lost millions of naira.”