On Wednesday, 26th October 2016, the naira fell to 470 against the US dollar, down from 455 on Tuesday when it stabilized, as fresh dollar shortage hit the official and parallel foreign exchange markets. This comes after Travelex and First Bank of Nigeria Limited started selling forex to Bureau De Change operators following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval.
“What we get from Travelex is not sufficient,” one trader told Reuters, referring to the demand in the market.
Another forex trader said that the scheme had failed to ease the biting dollar shortage in the country while CBN has struggled to support the naira as the nation’s external reserves continue to fall. The traders also said the naira had been hitting new lows as they tried to find thresholds where liquidity could begin to return.