As of Tuesday, Bureau De Change (BDC) operators were purchasing dollars for N980/$ on the open market and selling them at N1,020/$, according to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON).
The naira has strengthened against the US dollar more quickly than anticipated, according to ABCON President Aminu Gwadebe, who made this claim while appearing on the Channels Television show Business Incorporated.
Gwadebe praised the government and the Central Bank of Nigeria for their efforts thus far, pointing out that this is the first time in the last 15 years that the dollar exchange rate at the official window is lower than the parallel market rate.
He acknowledged that there is now calmness in the market as speculation which has been one of the major destabilization factors is no longer there.
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When asked how much the naira is now trading against the US dollar, Gwadebe said,‘’Our quote rate we buy at N980 and we sell at N1,020 as at now.’’
On what was responsible for the continuous appreciation of the naira, he said, ‘’Well, it’s a long journey, it did not start today, there are many factors, a combination of those factors that helped in achieving this, even though it happened faster than expected. So, I want to congratulate the management of the Central Bank for the first time in history over the past 15 years we have never seen where the open market is lower than the CBN rate.
‘’So, kudos to the Central Bank, and congratulations Nigerians, there is calmness now, we have not been seeing speculation coming into the market which hitherto has been one of the albatross that is keeping the naira under pressure.
‘’What you are seeing now is to show that what happened before has no any economic fundamental, it’s just a bubble and the bubble has burst.
‘’So, this happened with some stringent concerted policies, stress test policies that started with the unification of the market, it came with a mixture of feelings, a lot of disequilibrium, however, it has finally achieved its objectives of convergence. All is to converge the exchange rate so that we can have a single market, so congratulations to the presidency also for achieving this fiat convergence.’’
