Nigerian naira currency is expected to stay around 230 per dollar after the central bank directed bureau de change operators last week to demand details of a biometric Bank Verification Number (BVN) before selling dollars to their customers.
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| Emefiele, CBN chief |
The central bank said the latest measure aimed to ensure the money was used for the purpose specified.
The naira was trading at 230 per dollar on the parallel market on Thursday, firmer than 232 last week. On the interbank market, it traded at 199.48 a dollar compared with the previous week's 196.98 closing level.
"The BVN requirement is discouraging many people from buying dollars from the bureaux de change ... many of us now have unsold stock of dollars bought from the central bank because we cannot sell without asking our customers to provide the bank verification number," bureau de change operator Harrison Owoh said.
The BVN is meant to verify the identity of bank's customer and reduce fraud, while the central bank said the introduction of the verification number was to enable it identify buyers of forex and ensure the purchased commodity are used for the purpose their are meant for.
"The introduction of the BVN has reduced demand for dollar on the bureaux de change segment causing the naira to remain unchanged at the parallel market," one dealer said.
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