Encomium
As the nation’s economy bites harder, exchange rate keeps skyrocketting and most businesses paralyzed. Those engaging in black market operation as regards foreign exchange are also not singing pleasant tunes at the moment due to the acute dollar scarcity confronting the market.
Most of the operators of Bureau de Change ENCOMIUM Weekly sampled their opinions on the state of the trade at the moment still expressed dissatisfaction as it has worsened the scarcity of dollar and other top foreign currencies. They therefore urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to help facilitate the release of dollar into the system at reduced rate as proposed by the Federal Government in order to ensure smooth running of the business.
‘The business is still at a standstill’ – ISA HARUNA
“The situation has not improved, instead, it’s getting worse. We’re yet to get solution to the scarcity of dollar we have been battling since 2016. Nothing has really changed. Not many people patronize us again because of the unresolved dollar crisis. Some days back, we were told that the Federal Government has ordered the Central Bank to release dollar into the black market at the rate of N300 to US dollar to raise the volume of the currency which is perpetually highest in demand.
But up till now, we have not seen anything like that. Instead, the situation is getting worse. That’s why it keeps going up every day. As at today, a dollar is bought here at the rate of N502, one pound sterling is N600 and we sell them at N505 and N610 respectively as the case may be.
We’re still waiting for the government to assist in urging the CBN to disburse dollar at the rate we can afford for easy and profitable transaction.”
‘We’re not making any headway at all’ – AUDU SALISU
“I thank God I am still alive and in the business. A lot of people have left the business, while we still have some few others who are just coming in. But the truth is that we don’t have customers as we used to. No adequate dollar in the market.
President Buhari should, please help us release dollar and other currencies we trade in. Some of us here don’t have other business other than this. We just need to survive.”
‘Dollar is too scarce, and it’s really affecting us’ – HABEEB IBRAHIM
“It’s quite a while I got adequate dollar from my clients. Most of them are complaining of scarcity of dollar. And dollar is always in high demand. That’s why the little we’re trading with is very expensive now. No one can really say when we will get out of it. I don’t even know if Buhari is doing anything about it. I am tired of the business because there’s little profit from it now.”
‘We’re just trying to cope’ – HARUNA ISA
“Dollar is still very scarce, we’re only trying to cope with the situation. Now, the few I could get are not enough for my customers. And you can’t keep it for long because the exchange rate is not stable. We have sold a US dollar for N510 before, but now it’s N505 while we buy it at the rate of N490. We buy pound sterling at the rate of N600 and sell it for N610, while we buy euro for N500 and sell it N505. There’s no much profit now in the business. We’re appealing to Buhari to come up with the policy that will make dollar available in the black market. Nothing has really changed from the way things were in 2016.”
- TADE ASIFAT
