Nigeria suspends forex sales to retail currency traders

Nigeria's central bank has suspended foreign exchange sales to retail currency traders, a senior bureau de change (BDC) official said, to help protect the naira after a devaluation following the coronavirus outbreak and a fall in oil prices.
The central bank last week moved the currency rate for BDC to 380 to the US dollar from the previous 360. It subsequently adjusted the naira's official rate to 360, weaker than its previous peg of 306, implying a 15% devaluation.
Since the currency adjustment, the naira has weakened further. It fell to a new low of 361 to the dollar on the official market and hit 383.25 on the over-the-counter spot market on Thursday. Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest economy and its largest oil exporter, has confirmed 46 coronavirus cases, with one death. It has banned entry to arrivals from countries that have reported more than 1,000 coronavirus cases.
"Until borders are opened, there is no way anyone can provide genuine travel documents we can rely on," the BDC official said on Thursday, adding that some of the countries visited by Nigerians were in lockdown.