On Wednesday, the dollar reached N735 in the black market as the nation’s election season got underway.
Bureau de Change employees in Lagos and Abuja said that in the past week, the price of a dollar has climbed from N718 to N720 to N728 to N735.
Bala Usman, a BDC operator in Lagos’ Amuwo-Odofin, stated, “It is N728. I must go above and beyond that.
Abubakar Jamiu, another vendor, told the PUNCH that “Dollar don cost, we are selling for N730, no more no less,” in Zone 4 of Abuja.
However, by Wednesday’s end, the dollar rate had reached N735.
A Lagos Island operator named Mallam Zakari said that at of 4:54 pm, the dollar rate had increased to N735.
I’ll pay N731 for Dollar, which is worth N735. As of yesterday,
I’ll pay N731 for the dollar, which is worth N735. We sold N728 yesterday.
However, the rate remained at N430/$ through the Importers and Exporters Window.
As of Tuesday, the dollar to naira exchange rate was N431.19.
The naira had weakened in the black market, according to analysts, as a result of rising speculation, declining external reserves, and sluggish foreign exchange inflows.
Speaking about the main causes of the increases in the dollar-to-naira exchange rate, Gabriel Idahosa, vice president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claimed that the new Monetary Policy Rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria was the direct reason of the dollar rate increase.
“The increase in the Monetary Policy Rate from 13% to 15.5% is the immediate source of the dollar price increase.
Following the MPR increase, banks and other financial institutions will raise their lending rates. This will cause operating costs for all enterprises to increase more, which will exacerbate the inflationary trend. In order to prevent further depreciation of any funds held in naira, this has increased demand for dollars.
Idahosa claimed that the beginning of the electoral process also signalled a significant inflow of cash into activities related to campaigns.
Beneficiaries of these expenditures will exchange whatever naira money they get for dollars as soon as practicable.
Prof. Akpan Ekpo, an economist at the University of Uyo, claimed that given the CBN’s numerous constraints, there was a greater demand than supply for dollars.