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The naira’s depreciation is accelerating! On Thursday, it crashed to N280 per dollar at the parallel market and operators say there seems to be more space for the local currency to go further down!
As part of measures to fight the slide, commercial banks sent out letters to their customers informing them that henceforth maximum spending limit on offshore credit/debit card spendings have been further reduced to $12,000.00 per annum.
According to the banks, the letters were sequel to a similar communication from the apex bank directing a downward review of domiciliary account spendings abroad.
Recall that the apex bank had in the middle of the year, crashed the limit to $50,000 down from $100,000. Now, it is $12,000.
Vanguard reports that as the foreign exchange market tension persists, market operators said the apex bank will cancel the weekly sale of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change dealers anytime from now.
An official of the apex bank said the bank would formally give a “forward guidance” on the new policy that is expected to frustrate the booming black market trading of foreign currencies nationwide.
CBN has been battling unwholesome practices and lack of rendition of weekly reports by BDCs.
The report read further:
Vanguard learnt that some authorized BDCs usually buy foreign exchange from the CBN at the official rate of about N197-$1 and resell at the parallel market (black market) to end users at rates ranging far above the stipulated margins.
There are about 2578 authorised BDCs that participate at the CBN’s weekly sale auction but less than half have been regular at the CBN’s official foreign exchange window as the apex bank regularly ban most of them for infringements on the rules.
CBN had in a circular this week outlawed the hawking of foreign exchange on the streets, a multi-decade practice in Nigeria’s main cities. The law is effective from January 1, 2016.