It appears the official exchange rate is now N368 per dollar, at least based on a bank customer’s experience and his bank’s response.
The customer, whose name is Olajide Alex-Oni, had taken to Twitter, yesterday, to complain to his bank. The Nigerian recounted how he went shopping somewhere in the United States of America and needed to make payment with his Nigerian debit card.
Surprisingly to him, he was charged based on an exchange rate of N368 per dollar. The customer said:
“Greetings this Friday. I will like to know if the new official rate for dollar is N368/$1? I used my debit card to pay for something out here in the States for $55 only to receive a debit alert of N20,240. I await your prompt response & pls don’t tell me let’s DM.”
Without responding publicly on the Twitter thread, the bank went into the customer’s DM’s and explained. The bank informed the customer “please be informed official rate for dollar is 368.”
For those of you asking even though I said they shouldn't go into the DM.
Here's their response?https://t.co/p20j6eyxQw
— Olajide Alex-Oni CWM (@jidealexoni) March 13, 2020
Nairametrics still cannot confirm if this is truly the case. A quick check through the Central Bank of Nigeria website revealed that the CBN official exchange rate for the dollar as at March 12th, 2020 was N305.95/$ for those buying and N306.95/$ for those selling.
However, on the parallel market, which Nairametrics tracks conscientiously, the exchange rate for dollar has recently been very high due to volatility in the market.
As at Thursday this week, the exchange rate for the dollar in the parallel market had risen to N404 per dollar.
In the meantime, the CBN had insisted that it would not devalue the naira. The apex bank also issued a stern warning to speculators who have created panic in the forex market. As Nairametrics reported, over 100 BDC operators were also fined N5 million each for committing various infractions in the foreign exchange market.