Naira hit rock bottom, N815 per dollar at black market

The naira has kept falling in value on the black market, falling to N815 to the dollar in Abuja on Monday. Under the presidency of President Muhammadu Buhari, the naira has plunged to yet another record low, trading at N815 to the dollar on the black market exchange Aboki Forex.

Operators of Bureaux De Change (BDC) in Abuja’s Wuse neighborhood who spoke with newsmen claimed that increased demand from Nigerians was causing the naira to depreciate quickly against the dollar.

You will recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently revealed that it has redesigned some naira notes and will begin circulating them by December 2022. This development comes shortly after that announcement.

The decision was made, according to the apex bank, to lessen the amount of extra cash in circulation and stop counterfeiting.

At the street market, currency dealers in Lagos’ Victoria Island neighborhood quoted the naira at N805 to the dollar. The amount is down N63, or 8.5 percent, from the N742 it was trading for two weeks ago.

On Monday, the street vendors set the price of a dollar at N785 for purchase and N805 for sale, leaving an N20 profit margin.

“There is never enough supply to meet the constant demand. The value of the dollar is increasing daily. Banks are not giving money to importers. Therefore, they are visiting us, a BDC operator told newsmen.

The naira was quoted at N805 to the dollar at the street market by currency dealers in Lagos’ Victoria Island neighborhood.

In comparison to the N742 it traded for two weeks ago, the amount represents a depreciation of N63 or 8.5 percent.

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The street vendors set the price of a dollar for purchase on Monday at N785 and set the price for sale at N805, leaving N20 profit margin.

“The demand is always great and the supply is nonexistent. Every day, the value of the dollar increases. Banks do not give dollars to importers. That being the case, they are coming to us, a BDC operator told TheCable.

Meanwhile, netizens have taken to Twitter to vent their anger over the continued free fall of the naira. See reactions below:

Dollar is now 850 Naira.
I dey use 1 stone now kill 2 birds.
If you are in America this is the time to start or complete that project in Nigeria!
Naira getting more useless by the day.
I just started clearing another 50 Hectares of Farm Land in Nigeria with less Dollars than b4

— BitcoinChief (TATCOIN TRADER) (@gaiuschibueze) October 30, 2022

Government borrowing and depending on IMF is just a temporary relief which won’t even reliably bring the Cedi to Dollar Exchange rate back to Ghc10 to a Dollar. It’s just another money that will enter these incentive Grandfathers pockets.

— KOJO FOREX (@KojoForex) October 31, 2022

I didn’t promise anyone that I’ll arrest the dollar… you people should go and blame Bawumia and leave me alone.

— Don (@Opresii) October 30, 2022

#Bitcoin is hope for Nigeria. 🇳🇬 https://t.co/u8yoL1lI1U

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) October 29, 2022

Naira crashing to N800 a dollar is something expected and doesn't require a prophet to tell us it will happen.

Next thing to expect is N1000 a dollar since no one is doing anything to improve our economic situation. All that has been done so far by our leaders is to worsen it.

— Toyin Omotoso (NG) (@toyinomotoso) October 30, 2022

The free fall continues as the government of Mr. Buhari announced plans to redesign the currency in response to the nation’s economic problems while the ban on Bureau the Change operators is still in effect.

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the central bank, declared on Wednesday that fresh naira notes would be released by December 15.

The action, which has since been approved by Mr. Buhari and other stakeholders, was predicted by Mr. Emefiele to increase the value of the naira.

The apex bank gave all Nigerians six weeks to return all old naira notes to the bank’s vault, but politicians have continued to approach BDC operators to easily convert their soon-to-expire stockpiled naira to foreign currencies.

In an effort to stop the rapidly declining value of the national currency in 2021, the CBN forbade the sale of foreign currency to BDC operators. The BDCs were charged by the apex bank with selling foreign currency outside of the permitted market.

Before the ban, BDC operators played a sizable role in the black market, assisting those who couldn’t legally access foreign currencies directly from the CBN to keep their exchange rates stable.