Why Naira Staged Comeback Against Dollar – Traders

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

Recall that the Nigerian currency hit an all-time low of about N850 to the US dollar on the black market shortly after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced plans to redesign high-value currency notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 and reissued from December 15.

CBN said the affected currency notes will cease to be accepted after January 31, 2023, and asked currency holders to pay their currency notes to the banks before then.

While some have begun paying their hordes of naira notes into banks, many have sought refuge in the dollar, mopping up the dollar bills from Bureaus de Change, to preserve value.

In Lagos, black-market traders explained that the naira staged a comeback due to its scarcity, saying this was responsible for the inability of speculators buying dollar to offer higher rates for the green back.

“There is no naira in the system,” one currency dealer told Daily Trust in Central Lagos District, the heart of the financial market.

He said the dollar had risen to N730, but said if a seller wants naira to be paid into his bank account, it would be done at a lower rate of N700. In Port Harcourt, a dealer priced the dollar at N700 but demanded N720 to sell dollars to buyers.

In Abuja around the Zone 4 area, some BDCs recalled the drop in patronage of the dollar over varying accounts of information.

Also explaining why naira staged a comeback, Umaru Abu said “People are scared that with recent information that the US is rejecting the $100 bill, buying the dollar could be a risk, but we have now heard from CBN officials that it is not true.

“Some of my colleagues said maybe people are buying more assets due to the CBN naira redesign policy and are cutting down spending in dollars. But we have observed some drop in patronage since Tuesday evening,” he noted.

Source: Daily Trust

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