After a few days of rally last week, the naira crashed further at the parallel market yesterday, as activities of speculators weakened the currency further to N1630/$1.
Last week, the naira witnessed four consecutive days of exchange rate appreciation since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) migrated to the Enhanced Foreign Exchange Market System (EFEMS) platform.
However, since the market opened this week, the gains have been eroded with the naira fast depreciating at the parallel market, despite showing steady gain at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
EFEMS was introduced by the CBN to improve transparency and efficiency in Nigeria’s forex market. The platform requires all FX transactions to be priced through the system, ensuring that daily exchange rates are transparent and accessible to the public.
President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Aminu Gwadebe, had warned that forex speculators will resist the rapid appreciation of the naira to cover their losses.
Gwadebe had urged the CBN to keep the momentum, discourage the illegal act of speculation and currency substitution as well as engage the BDC operators where volatility is pervasive.
