The BDCs blamed the current scarcity of dollars for their actions.

The popular Zone 4 was deserted when our reporter visited on Thursday.

The naira closed at an all-time low of N1,482 against the United States dollar on the official window on Tuesday while on the parallel market, it remained stable at N1,450/$.

The development is coming amid the apex bank order to Deposit Money Banks to sell their excess dollar stock by February 1, 2024 on Wednesday.

The CBN is of the opinion that there is between $3-$5 billion   excess foreign ccurrencies with the commercial banks.

According to officials, the bank believes some commercial banks hold long-term foreign exchange positions to enable them to profit from the volatile movements of exchange rates.

In the circular titled, “Harmonisation of Reporting Requirements on Foreign Currency Exposures of Banks”, the CBN raised concerns over the growing trend of banks holding large foreign currency positions.

The latest circular came barely 48 hours after the CBN released a circular, warning banks and FX dealers against reporting false exchange rates, among others.

The new development also came on the heels of the adjustment of the methodology used for the calculation of the nation’s official exchange rate by the FMDQ Exchange.

The Apex bank said, “Just as some Nigerians prefer to keep their money in dollars because naira is not a good store of value, banks also hold excess dollar liquidity to make gains. They do their own at institutional level.  What the CBN is saying with this new circular is that, you cannot hold excess dollar liquidity again. Any foreign exchange you are holding must be committed to something, a transaction or obligation you can proof. Banks have made a lot of revaluation gains. Some banks, I believe, got approval under the last administration to hold more dollar than the requirement. The idea is that if banks sell all these excess dollars, there will liquidity and the exchange rate will stabilise. Foreign investors will come in.”