Black market forex traders are in denial, hoping that the new policy of banks rejecting deposits into domiciliary accounts will not work or end up being abandoned mid-stream.
Some of them are still ignoring market forces, speculating by arbitrarily fixing prices of major foreign currencies.
Those who thought dollars, pounds and euros will begin a gradual fall were disappointed on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, when the currencies traded almost at the same figures as Monday, August 3.
The dollar exchanged today in some areas of Lagos for N215 to N220, pounds was N290 to N318 and euros N220 to N230.
Many had hoped the policy, introduced last week, rejecting payment of dollars, pounds and euros, among others, into domiciliary account will result in fairer and reasonable exchange rates in a matter of days.
Experts believe that stolen money and proceeds of crime largely fuel the high exchange rates in the black market. And the CBN governor in an interview published in ThisDay on Monday, August 3, put the money in the black market at over $1 billion cash in illicit funds in Nigeria.
Nigeria was rated as one of the top ten for illicit money – and patriots are worried about the dangerous slide in the value of the naira which got to N245 a few weeks back.
The official rate of the dollar is still N196.