Data from the official window and the black market has shown that the dollar rate gap between both forex channels has increased to N244.92 kobo.
The exchange rate gap rose by N23.17 kobo as of the close of trading activities on Tuesday, from N221.75 kobo as of Monday.
Note that the foreign exchange market didn’t open on Wednesday due to the Muslim public holiday, Eid el-Maulud.
In a forex data obtained from the FMDQ Exchange, it was reported that the naira to dollar rate settled at N755.08/$1 in the investors’ and exporters’ window on Tuesday.
This is significantly below the asking price of the dollar in the parallel market, where naira traded at N1000 per USD, according to reports from the Bureau De Change market.
While speaking with some of the bureau de change operators, Ripples Nigeria gathered that foreign exchange remain low in the parallel market.
Also, the official window is struggling with scarcity, which has prevented many banks from resuming international transactions on their naira card.
So as demand overshoot supply, the black market operators said the price of the dollar rises on the back of depreciating naira.
To solve the forex problem, Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs, suggested that the BDCs and the banks should be reformed.
He further opined that the number of bureau de change centres, which is over 5000, should be reduced to 200, stating that thousands of BDCs cannot be properly regulated.
Fasua said: “If we can do the structural reforms in the BDCs sector and the banks and supervise them well, the CBN with our reserves can incentivize that sector, allowing people to get money much quicker.”
