Naira slides to N492/$ as remittances from Nigerians in diaspora hit $35m

The Naira continued to depreciate against the greenback at the parallel market as demand for the dollars outstrips forex liquidity.

The local currency slid N2 from N490 it traded on Tuesday to N492 a dollar on Wednesday. While the Pound and the Euro closed at N605 and N505 respectively.

At the Bureau De Change segment, the Naira traded at CBN stipulated rate of N399 to a dollar, both the Pound and the Euro closed at N604 and 510 respectively. The official interbank market remained stable, with the Naira exchanging at N305.25 to a dollar.

The President of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe has hailed the newly proposed abolition of the parallel market. “The scrapping of multiple markets outside the purview of the CBN will be a welcome development. The existence of multiple rates is highly unacceptable,’’ Gwadabe said.

Meanwhile, remittances from Nigerian migrants have increased to about $35 million dollars in 2016, the Chief of Mission, International Organisation for Migration, IOM, Enira Krdzalic, says.

She made this known during the Annual Migration Dialogue recently in Abuja to mark this year’s International Migrants Day.

Ms. Krdzalic said according to the World Bank reports, the significant increase of remittances of Nigerian migrants from $21 million in 2015 made it the second largest recipient of remittances in Africa.

She said that on that note, Nigeria ranked the fifth largest recipient of remittances in the world from its citizens who sent home money to relatives and friends.

“According to the World Bank report, remittances have reached levels nearly three times higher than official development corporation funds with global figures of remittances still expected to grow,” she said.

She added that migration could be made a story of hope, future, and improvement rather than a tragedy and death, which was why the advocacy against dangerous migration was the centre of IOM campaign.

Ms. Krdzalic said this had further re-validated the urgent need for key stakeholders including policy makers to come together and design an appropriate response mechanism to strengthen policy response.

In a remark, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, said that migration was not a crime but healthy for integration and development of nations.

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He said: “It becomes a challenge when it is done illegally, desperately and dangerously which is why the focus should be on measure to address and manage the scourge of illegal migration.”

He said if not properly managed, people would use the opportunity to perpetuate criminal acts like human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking amongst others.

Also speaking, Abike Dabiri, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, said there should be sensitisations and stringent measures to discourage youths on illegal migration.

She said Nigerians should be dissuaded from going through hostile circumstances in a bid for greener pastures as “the other side is not as green as they think”.