Naira exchanges for 480/$ at parallel market

The naira exchanged to the dollar at the rate of 480/$ at the parallel market on Friday according to the Bureau de Change operators.

At the Importer & Exporter forex window, it reached a high of 435/$ before closing at 410/$.

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently disclosed that the naira depreciated at the official market to 410 against the dollar.

“In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from 305/$ to 360/$ and now hovers around 410/$,” it stated.

Recently, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria called on the CBN to introduce measures that would counter the advantages of cryptocurrency exchanges as a channel for diaspora remittances.

In its quarterly economic review report for the first quarter of 2021, ABCON said such measures were necessary to redirect diaspora remittance inflow away from cryptocurrency exchanges to official channels.

Though  the association  commended the CBN for the N5/$ rebate scheme introduced to encourage diaspora Nigerians to use official channels for remittance transfer, it noted that the apex bank needed to address other issues driving the patronage of cryptocurrency exchanges for remittance transfer.

It stated, “It is noteworthy that public acceptability for cryptocurrency exchanges is rising which could be quite accountable for the wide drop in diaspora inflows to Nigeria.

“Insecurity in the country is giving it greater prominence as investors and citizens are finding cryptocurrency a safe haven for their wealth in case of any eventuality.

“In most emerging markets, Bitcoin transfers surged last year, as the pandemic exposed the cheaper and more efficient digital remittance services.

“Migrants sending money across borders to their families prefer the minimal transaction costs of cryptocurrency exchanges against the exorbitant costs of traditional money transfer companies like Western Union.”

The report added that cryptocurrency transactions were faster than the conventional transfers, which required passing through banks reliant SWIFT, the sluggish, half-century-old interbank messaging system that handles cross-border payments.

-Saturday PUNCH