Page 36 Bureau De Change Operators in the country, have begun to experience dollar scarcity, as market speculators have started stocking up their dollar reserves.
It was gathered on Wednesday, that the naira is now trading at N375 to a dollar, in Lagos.
Traders in Abuja, revealed that they traded at between N370 and N372 to a dollar.
However, Traders contacted in Lagos and Abuja, added that they had run out of dollars.
They said that they were waiting for the weekly intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The CBN makes interventions of up to $210 million into the forex market, to support the naira. This is done twice in a week.
The development is already generating reactions on the social media, with some speculators advising Investors to trade in naira for dollars.
Reacting, a source said: “On Sunday, the cost to buy dollar was 365 naira. By today (Wednesday), it is 369 Naira. CBN can continue their fake Naira peg, but the invisible hand of the market is a wicked motherfucker. The coming weeks, Nigeria will see the results of not diversifying the economy for the past 5 years.”
Another source added: “Buying dollar will not really save you that much. E lo gan lowo to ni lowo? Earning dollar and spending in naira is the ultimate flex. Oluwa, I am ready for this dollar wages.”
Meanwhile, crude oil prices recorded its biggest single-day drop on Sunday, to trade at $33 per barrel. Oil price began to dip after the coronavirus in China.
China, which is one of the world’s largest buyers of crude oil, had to partially shut down its economy to control the spread of the virus, and in turn, reduced its demand for crude oil.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and its Allies, OPEC+, held a meeting on Friday, with OPEC proposing additional production cuts of up to 1.5 million barrels, to combat the risk posed to the market by the coronavirus outbreak.
They proposed that the cuts take effect from April to December, 2020.
The current production cuts would expire in March.
However, talks collapsed as Russia refused to agree to the cuts. Saudi Arabia also announced that it would increase its daily output to 12 million barrels.
