About 24 hours after the Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) advised the federal government to review its floating exchange rate regime to save the country from monetary collapse, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), yesterday, cried out over the fate of the naira, saying for Nigeria to boost its production base, priority FX allocation must be given to the sector.
MAN, which claimed that a 60-cent increase in the customs duty in the last three weeks was unsustainable, also disclosed that less than 20% of FX requirement was available in the banks. At the same time, concerns have continued to mount over crypto speculations, especially as the naira depreciated further at the parallel market, closing yesterday at N1,920/$1. It, however, gained marginally on the official FX market to close at N1,542.58/$1, compared to N1,551.24/$1 it closed on Tuesday.
The daily turnover on the official FX market was $172.14 million, which was an increase of 46.72 per cent compared to the $117.32 million recorded on Tuesday. Another major risk to the Naira is the country’s unregulated P2P crypto market, where a manipulative tactic known as spoofing poses major threats to the value of the local currency. This involves individuals or groups placing large buy or sell orders on the platform without intending to execute them. This creates an illusion of high demand or abundance, influencing others to buy or sell at manipulated prices.
