Nigeria’s central bank halts sale of $5.7bn to money changers

The measure may lead to an initial depreciation in the naira’s value.

Nigeria’s central bank halted the sale of foreign exchange to money changers to ease pressure on the nation’s currency, Governor Godwin Emefiele said. The decision will halt the supply of $5.72 billion annually by the central bank to the West African nation’s bureaus de change — a key source of foreign exchange for Nigerians traveling abroad and local businesses. The central bank will also stop issuing new licenses to currency-trading companies, whose number more than doubled to almost 5,500 over the past five years, Emefiele said at a briefing Tuesday in the capital, Abuja. The measure may lead to an initial depreciation in the naira’s value as the sudden withdrawal of supply from the central bank causes the price of dollars to increase.