Bureau De Change in Nigeria’s capital Abuja has ceased operations indefinitely as a result of dollar scarcity.

Nigerians rely on the American currency to carry out international financial transactions.

Abdulahi Dauran, chairman of the association, told the BBC they took the decision to show Nigerians that they are concerned by the dollar scarcity, which he blamed on cryptocurrency and online speculators.

“The reason why we want to close the Bureau market is that we want people to know that we are also worried by what is happening," he said.

Mr Dauran added: “The situation is made worse by speculators such as Binance and Aboki website and Nigerians hugely rely on them.”

The development is coming amid fresh moves by the Central Bank to stabilise the country’s volatile exchange rate.

The apex bank has ordered banks to sell their excess dollar stock by February 1, 2024.

They also warned lenders against hoarding excess foreign currencies for profit.