The naira fell even lower on Thursday, trading at 590 to the dollar on the parallel market ahead of the Easter holiday.
According to certain Bureau de Change employees who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, the dollar was purchased and sold for 585 and 590.
The naira had previously traded at N588 to the dollar on Monday.
The naira slipped 0.20 percent to N417.5 at the Importer & Exporter FX window after touching a high of N444.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, on the other hand, kept the official rate at N416 on its website.
In 2021, the CBN stopped allocating currency to Bureau de Change operators and later declared that it will stop intervening in banks by the end of 2022.
The Nigerian Association of Bureaux De Change Operators had asked the CBN for help in ensuring that Bureaux De Change operators kept selling dollars to the retail market.
ABCON National Executive Council, in a notice to its members across the country, urged the regulator to reconsider the ban on dollar sales to BDCs in order to restore the naira’s long-term stability.
The organization disputed reports that the naira has stayed mainly constant and converging after the dollar distribution to BDCs was halted.
BDCs, according to ABCON NEC, are the CBN’s most effective weapon for managing foreign exchange rates.
“Our view to the CBN is that instead of a total blanket removal from the market, our members should be considered in whatever mechanism of dollar supply to end customers as is done in other countries,” it said.
“As a result, we deny claims that the naira exchange rate has improved as a result of the suspension of dollar sales to BDCs, and we recommend our members to disregard such claims.”
The ABCON NEC stated that it would continue to take steps to ensure that its members’ businesses are restored and that operators continue to operate legally as they do in other parts of the world.
