The lingering foreign exchange (FOREX) scarcity in the country has continued to worsen even as the exchange rate on the parallel market is inching towards N590/$1.
The development may lead to massive job loss in the manufacturing industry, among other sectors, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
The development comes over eight months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped the sale of forex to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators and promised to boost liquidity in commercial banks.
Investigations on Tuesday showed that the exchange rate stood at N585/$1 and N785/£1 on the black market as against the N582/$1 last Friday.
This is just as banks have also limited customers’ access to FOREX, placing a cap of $20 per month for online transactions.
Insiders told our correspondent that things may worsen even further as electioneering intensifies, adding that politicians had begun to mop up dollars, driving up the demand.
“The naira will keep falling because those who need dollars cannot get it and they will patronise the parallel market, increasing demand. It is also one of the fallouts of an election year. We are not earning as much FX and we will spend more financing on petrol subsidy. Ultimately, there will be a wider gap between the import and export window and the parallel market,” a government official, who craved anonymity, said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, had in January projected that the CBN would devalue the naira by the end of 2022, adding that spending on political campaigns ahead of the 2023 general elections would put more pressure on foreign exchange supply in the Nigerian economy.
Already, frustrated manufacturers and travellers have been forced to patronise BDC operators more often than before.
It was learnt that in some instances, banks were able to meet just about 30 per cent of customers’ demands.
It was learnt that the MAN had begun reaching out to the Federal Government for urgent intervention even as the rising cost of diesel has worsened the ease of doing business.
The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, in a chat said that manufacturers now rely on the parallel market for their foreign exchange.
Ajayi-Kadir said the forex scarcity and the high cost of diesel had greatly increased the cost of production, adding that employers may be forced to lay off some workers in order to cope with the new realities.