Naira dips amid marginal external reserves gain

THE naira dipped slightly after it exchanged for N474/$ at the parallel market yesterday.

  It had earlier exchanged for 473/$ for most of last week.

At the Investors and Exporters foreign exchange window, it closed at N388/$ after it had reached a high of N415/$.

This is coming on the heels of latest figures from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had revealed that showed the country’s external reserves rose by $930 million from $35.37 billion as of December 31, 2020 to $36.30 billion as of January 14.

According to the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), CBN had continued to ensure it achieved exchange rate stability.

It had also continued to ensure that foreign exchange was made available to manufacturers and end users who needed the funds for their medical trips, school fees payment, and travel allowances among others.

ABCON noted that funding Bureaux De Changes also helped to deepen the market and reduced scarcity that always formed the basis for speculative activities.

The ABCON said beyond trading within set rules, a liquid forex market would always be a disincentive for speculative activities.

It said it was necessary to deepen forex market by making BDCs agents of International Money Transfer Operators.

President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said the apex bank should leverage the over 5,000 licensed BDCs across the country to get dollars seamlessly to beneficiaries.

Gwadabe said this would help in providing a more convenient channel for Nigerians in the diaspora to remit funds back to the country to boost economic development.