Naira gains at official window as black market fall continues

Naira gained against the U.S. dollar on Friday at the official market, appreciating by 0.06 per cent.

According to data published on FMDQ websites, where forex is officially traded, the naira closed at N445.50 per dollar on Friday with $94.07 million recorded as forex turnover against $166.88 million (46.63%) posted on Thursday.

The domestic currency hovered within an intraday range of N431.00 and N447.00 per dollar before settling at N445.50 $1 on Friday, the last business day of the week.

However, the local unit continued to fall at the parallel market on Friday due to soaring demands of the hard currency following the central bank’s move to redesign Nigeria’s currency.

Currency dealers at the Abuja Zone 4 market, said the dollar was exchanged at N880.00 and sold at N885.00 on Friday, as against N870.00 it traded on Thursday.

“The truth is many people are coming to exchange dollars with bags of naira due to the CBN’s recent move to redesign our currency. So people are rushing to change their naira to the dollar without minding the cost,” a dealer at the Zone 4 market told PREMIUM TIMES.

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He explained that the lingering pressure to convert naira notes to dollars is the reason behind the soaring exchange rates at the unauthorised window.

“After the deadline set by the CBN, I am almost certain that the dollar will crash,” the currency trader said.

At the Uyo Udi Street market, currency dealers said the dollar was exchanged at N875.00 but that it is being sold at almost N920.00 $1.

“We are not selling the dollar at any fixed price here. People are selling it anyhow,” a currency dealer at Udi Street said.