Brent Crude Falls To $109.1 As Naira Plunges Further At Parallel Market
Global oil prices dropped on Monday as the Russian-Urkrainean conflict enters its third week.
As at Monday morning, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 3.5 percent, trading at $109.1 a barrel from its last closing at $113 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate, fell to $105.5 a barrel.
Global oil prices have surged in recent days following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which has impacted the commodity rate as a result of the importance of the Vladimir Putin led country in the international oil market.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s local currency, the naira has continue to record a downward slide at the parallel section of the foreign exchange market.
The naira, upon resumption of trading on Monday fell to N581 per dollar, losing N3 or 0.52 percent from N578 /$1 despite the ban of forex sale on Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Since the ban on the sale of forex by the BDCs, the naira had lost 15.01 percent or N76 in value, declining from N505 per dollar to its current rate of N581/$1.
Recall that on 27 July 2021, Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced the discontinuation of forex sales to BDCs.
According to Emefiele, BDC operators have become agents of money laundering in Nigeria, adding that the apex bank would channel weekly allocations of dollar sales to commercial banks to meet legitimate foreign exchange demands.
“They have turned themselves away from their objectives,” he said.They are now agents that facilitate graft and corruption in the country.We cannot continue with the bad practices that are happening at the BDC market,” Emefiele had stated.
“Several international organisations, embassies patronise BDC through illegal forex dealer to fund their institutions,” he added.We will deal ruthlessly with Nigerian banks that deal with illegal BDCs and we will report foreign organisations patronising them, ” he added.
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