Sep 17, 2021
Nigeria Probes Platform Tracking Naira Street Rate After Crash
Bloomberg News
,(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s central bank is going after a currency-rate tracker in its latest move to control the slumping naira.
abokiFX, a platform that tracks the unofficial naira exchange rate, is manipulating prices in the parallel market, Governor Godwin Emefiele said Friday. The company has denied the claim. The platform gets loans “to purchase dollars, take a position, change the rate over a given period, sell the dollars they purchased and make a profit,” Emefiele told reporters in the capital, Abuja, after an interest-rate decision. “This is completely illegal, it’s unacceptable and we will pursue them.”
The company responded to the allegations saying, “abokiFX does not trade in foreign exchange, neither do we manipulate rates in anyone’s favor. All rates published are randomly sourced daily from various market locations in Lagos,” it said in a statement.Africa’s largest crude producer has devalued its currency thrice since March last year after lower oil prices put pressure on dollar reserves. The central bank rationed supply of the greenback, forcing individuals and firms to turn to unauthorized dealers to meet their needs. It’s also sought to reduce the number of exchange rates for the currency.
The measure has failed to reverse the slide of the naira, which was at a record-low of 570 to the dollar at the parallel market as at 6.30p.m. in Lagos Friday, according to abokiFX.
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