Market News

•  EFCC raids BDC operators in Abuja, arrests 50  

The parallel section of the foreign exchange market recorded a new all-time low on Monday after the naira depreciated to N1,730 per dollar. The naira fell by 8.13 percent from N1,600/$ recorded on February 16, 2024.

Currency traders at the street market quoted the buying price of the dollar at N1,700 and the selling price at N1,730 — leaving a profit margin of N30.

“Customers are demanding for the dollars so much and it is affecting the market,” a black market trader known as Aliyu said. At the official window, the naira depreciated by 2.65 percent to N1,537.96/$ on February 16 — from N1,498.25 per dollar on February 15.

According to data from FMDQ Securities, a platform that oversees foreign exchange trading in Nigeria, the local currency hit an intra-day trading high of N1,631 and a low of N1,000.

Meanwhile, officers of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), raided and arrested over 50 illegal Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Wuse Zone 4 Abuja, yesterday amid the continued free fall of the naira in the Foreign Exchange Market.

According to Dayyabu Mistila, a BDC operator in Wuse Zone 4, operatives said the raid was because of the rising exchange rate of the U.S. dollar and other currencies against the naira at the forex market. Efforts to speak with the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.