The lingering foreign exchange scarcity in the country has continued to worsen even as the exchange rate on the parallel market is inching towards N590 against $1
This is coming, over eight months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped the sale of forex to Bureau de Change operators and promised to boost liquidity in commercial banks.
Checks showed that on Tuesday, the exchange rate stood at N585/$1 and N785/£1 on the black market as against the N582/$1 last Friday.
Insiders say things may worsen even further as electioneering move intensifies, adding that politicians had begun to mop up dollars, driving up the demand.
“The naira will keep falling because those who need dollars cannot get it and they will patronise the parallel market, increasing demand. It is also one of the fallouts of an election year. We are not earning as much FX and we will spend more financing on petrol subsidy. Ultimately, there will be a wider gap between the import and export window and the parallel market,” a government official, who craved anonymity, said.
The development may lead to massive job loss in the manufacturing industry, among other sectors, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).