Naira drops to N411.25 per dollar on Investors and Exporters Window

The Naira recorded marginal depreciation at the official window after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced indefinite extension of its ‘Naira-4-Dollar’ scheme.

The naira dropped to N411.25/$1  on the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window  from N410.33/$1 after the CBN’s policy extension was made public.

At the parallel market, the local currency on Thursday, remained unchanged at N483/$1, same rate it has maintained since the policy extension on May 8.

The  CBN had promised that the new policy would provide Nigerians in the Diaspora with cheaper and more convenient ways of sending remittances to the country.

The policy, which gives N5 rebate for every one dollar sent by Nigerians in diaspora  to the country, allows direct payment into the account of beneficiaries, after receipt of the remittance inflows.

The policy extension was to enable the CBN boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange market liquidity by attracting additional dollar inflows through diaspora remittances.

Diaspora remittances dropped by $4.65 billion in 2020 but is expected to  rise to $22 billion by the end of this year as the ‘Naira 4 Dollar’  scheme implementation continues.

A circular to all authorised dealers and deposit money banks signed by CBN Director, Trade and Exchange Department, A.S Jibrin, said the policy, which was to end on May 8 will continue.

He added that all aspects of the operationalisation of the programme remained the same.

He said: “Further to the CBN Circular referenced TED/FEM/PUB/FPC/01/003 dated 05 March 2021 on the above subject matter, which was originally scheduled to end on 08 May 2021, we  hereby announce the continuation of the scheme until further notice”.

Nation/Hauwa Abu