The cash crunch rocking the country is threatening the operations of FX traders in the black market, while many operators have already suspended business as the scarcity bites.
The Nigerian economy has been grappling with the lack of physical cash since January 2023 after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began phasing out old Naira notes from the economy and limiting the amount of cash in the system.
Over the past week, the traders in the parallel market have adopted varying prices, with a preference for cash transactions, while those who prefer to transfer paid higher rates.
According to sources, the lack of cash has limited their ability to source for FX, as customers with greenbacks also insist on getting cash for their dollars, which they do not have.
As of the last report, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar traded for an average of N762/$1 at the black market, compared to an average of N755/$1 recorded in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the official investors and Exporters window has remained stable at N461/$1 in the past month, with an upper limit of N462.17/$1
According to traders in Ikeja, many operators have suspended trading due to the lack of cash and the efficiencies in other forms of transaction.
Due to the huge volume of transactions now carried out in banking apps, the mobile applications have suffered several recurrent downtimes, with notable and frustrating reports of unsuccessful debited transactions, others have also used this opportunity to scam unsuspecting Nigerians using fake alerts.
