The Nigerian currency, Naira, has depreciated in the parallel market, follwing the worsening of Naira on Wednesday, July 1, 2015 as it lost N4 against the dollar, closing the market exchange rate
at N230 per dollar.
The Naira had depreciated by N10 against the dollar due to the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria excluded importation of rice, cement and other 39 items from the foreign exchange market.
The CBN in a statement issued on Tuesday, June 30, 2015 stated that, “For the avoidance of doubt, please note that the importation of these items are not banned.
“Thus, importers desirous of importing these items shall do so using their funds without recourse to the Nigerian Foreign Exchange markets.”.
In interbank trading, the naira moved 0.1 per cent to N198.85 per dollar at 12:05pm in Lagos.
Nigeria’s foreign currency reserves have declined 16 per cent to $29 billion this year.
The restricted items account for as much as $6 biilion worth of goods imported every quarter.
Acording to, the President, Association of Bereaus de Change of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe said, “The ban is putting pressure on naira on the streets.”
The CBN, faced with a 45-percent plunge in the price of oil, the source of two-thirds of the government’s revenue, has began imposing currency restrictions as pressure mounted on the naira.
