The sharp fall of the naira against foreign currencies continues this weekend, with the British pound crossing N1000 in the parallel market.
There are fears that the dollar, which has also been on a steep rise in value against the naira, may cross N1000 at any moment.
The current black market rate, which is not recognised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has almost doubled the official rate, thereby widening the disparity and putting more pressure on businesses.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided some bureau de change (BDC) operators in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano last week in a bid to tackle the rising exchange rate, but this has not stopped the naira’s depreciation.
Many Nigerians have taken to social media as the British Pound was exchanged for N1005 over the weekend.
“One thousand pounds is actually a million naira. The country is going to crash,” wrote a Twitter user named Salami Azeez.
Many people also described the rate as alarming, warning that, given the recent naira fall, the dollar might cross the N1000 line in the next few days.
REPORTERS AT LARGE earlier reported that the CBN’s planned redesign of the naira notes has led to many people rushing to dispose of their local currencies and convert them to foreign currencies.
