Again, Naira strengthens against the dollar due to SSS raid on illegal BDC operators

The naira strengthened against the dollar again on Friday, amidst a crackdown on Bureau De Change operators, across major Nigerian cities by operatives of the State Security Service, SSS.

Security operatives have since Wednesday been raiding the offices of some currency traders, accused of illegal activities, in major cities including Lagos and Abuja, in order to salvage the declining value of the Naira.

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The clampdown followed a meeting between the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the SSS and leadership of the Bureau de Change (BDC) association aimed at finding solutions to the poor performance of the national currency against other international currencies, particularly the dollar, in the money market.

Following the exercise, which continued on Thursday, Naira on Friday showed signs of strengthening against the dollar in all segments of the foreign exchange market.

At the interbank market, the currency gained N1.45 to its exchange value to the dollar, closing at about N304.75, from N306.50 recorded on Thursday.

In the parallel market, the Naira gained N5, exchanging at about N455, from N460 recorded on Thursday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N555 and N505 respectively.

The Central Bank allows licensed BDC operators to buy dollars through Travelex at about N381 per dollar, and sell to retailers or end-users at about N385 per dollar. On Friday, most black market traders were selling to their customers at between N385 and N400 to the dollar, as agreed at last weekend’s meeting, N555 to the Pound Sterling and N500 to the Euro.

The CBN guidelines stipulate that BDCs must not sell foreign exchange to end-users above two per cent margin of the buying rate.