ABCON Warns Currency Speculators of Causing the Naira to Lose Value Against the Dollar

The Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria recently urged currency speculators to deviate from their previous actions, which have pushed the nation’s currency into losing value against the United States dollar.

This announcement was revealed by PUNCH after the President of ABCON, Aminu Gwadabe, said in a WhatsApp message he sent to the newspaper house that the Central Bank of Nigeria is pushing on suffering currency speculators.

His WhatsApp message reads,

• What is happening in the market and the continuous naira rebound are manifestations of the CBN's double-edged sword measures of dollar liquidity injection and naira mopping through the instrumentality of interest rate hikes.

• It is a good development, as it is now a great risk to speculate, hoard, and substitute naira for other currencies.

The naira strengthened by 15.18% to settle at N950/$ in the parallel market on Friday from 1,120/$ which it traded the previous day.

The dollar sold for 783.67/$ in the Importer’s and Exporter’s FX window, when compared to 807.27/$ on Thursday, according to data on the CBN website.

The naira reversed the depreciating trend it had witnessed this year after the CBN started to clear the forex demand backlog in banks.

“As we continue to observe developments, there is a need for caution in attacking the naira, as it all appears that the CBN has the arsenal and the logic to continue to enshrine the success recorded,” ABCON noted.

The association noted there had been “Panic selling as opposed to panic buying.”

The BDC operators called on the CBN to continue to make clarifications and implement some of their recommendations to include them in the foreign exchange market.

Gwadabe added that with such inclusion, the BDC will be able to perform its role of meeting the needs of the critical retail end sector.

He said, 

• They pose as pass-through effects of the central bank's foreign exchange rate policy of stability and elimination of disparities in the overall market.

• The BDCs are necessary for the demand measures of the apex bank transaction monitoring mechanism and clients’ utilisation with correcting and moderating potential.