Again, Naira slides, trades high at parallel market

VAM News Update

THE Nigerian naira, on Monday, weakened to N871 per US dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

The figure represents a depreciation of N6 or 0.7 percent compared to the N865/$ it traded last week.

Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, popularly known as ‘abokis’, who spoke to TheCable in Victoria Island area of Lagos, quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N865 and the selling price at N871 per dollar, leaving a N6 profit margin.

Aliyu, a currency trader in the Agbara area of Ogun state, said that buying and selling prices stood at N865/$ and N870/$, respectively.

He said there was still high demand for the greenback in the street market.

At the investors and exporters (I&E) forex window, the local currency appreciated by 2.43 percent to close at N756.94/$ on Monday, according to details on FMDQ Securities Exchange — a platform where FX is officially traded.

The currency has closed at N775.76 to a dollar on Friday.

Since the government unified the exchange rate windows, the naira has consistently experienced fluctuations at the official window.

Recently, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), an arm of The Economist of London, predicted that the Nigerian government would go back to a system where they have more control over the exchange rate.

The UK-based platform said the move would be taken to try and stop the naira from losing its value much further.

“The CBN lacks experience in conducting monetary policy under a float, and the need to control rapidly increasing inflation will become more acute over time,” EIU said.

“Our forecast is finely balanced, but we expect a return to heavier exchange-rate management from the second half of 2023 as the naira slides beyond N800:US$1 from N770:US$1 in early July.”