Anxiety as dollar exchanges for N1,420/$ on parallel market

Anxiety as dollar exchanges for N1,420/$ on parallel market

There are fears prices of essential goods including food items in Nigeria may begin to rise again as naira witnessed a major slide against the United States dollar at the foreign exchange market on Thursday.

The naira fell to N1,309/$ on the official market and N1,420 on the parallel market, according to multiple sources.

This indicates a fall of N90 or 6.8 per cent from N1,330 recorded on Wednesday.

The latest downward trend in naira rate after recording appreciable gain for some weeks followed high demand for dollars.

A report by The Punch quoted currency traders at the popular Wuse Zone 4 market in Abuja as buying the greenback note at N1,340 and selling at N1,420, leaving a profit margin of N80.

In Lagos, a trader Ibrahim Garba told Newstrends that the naira-dollar rate changes almost hourly.

“It was selling at N1,380/$ at 11am today (on Thursday) and by 2pm, it had moved to N1,400/$,” he said.

The naira has this lost 26.2 per cent in two weeks when compared to N1,125/$ on April 12, 2023 on the parallel market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday approved the allocation of $15.83 million to 1,583 BDC operators.

This was aimed at enhancing liquidity in the unofficial market.

The CBN in a letter to BDCs announced the allocation of $10,000 to operators across the country.

The allocation came at N1,021)$, aimed at stabilsing the foreign exchange market and ensuring accessibility of foreign currency to eligible end users.

Last weekend, the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, said the Naira was declared the best-performing currency globally as of April 2024.

The naira was about the worst currency in March when it fell to as low as N1,600/$1 on the official market and N1800/$1 on the parallel market