Naira continues to depreciate

In recent days, it appears that black market merchants have struck gold, taking advantage of limited liquidity on the foreign exchange market as well as Nigerians seeking speedy access.

Since the Central Bank of Nigeria established strict rules on the foreign exchange market, black market traders have had to become more inventive in order to obtain dollars from the official market or in other ways, and they haven’t been shy about using any potential loopholes. One of those days was Thursday.

Nigerians seeking easy access to dollars were compelled to pay N540/$1 according to Abokifx statistics. This was a 0.94 percent rise over the N535.00 paid on Wednesday.

In fact, according to Ripples Nigeria, dealers in some sections of Lagos were selling the dollar for N550.

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The Naira’s value in relation to the British Pound Sterling and the Euro was also affected by the currency crisis.

The Naira lost N10 against the pound, selling for N740/£1 compared to N730/£1 the day before, according to Abokifx statistics.

The Naira dropped N3 in value against the euro, trading at N632/€1 on Thursday, down from N629/€1 on Wednesday.

It was the same story at the official foreign exchange market’s Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.

According to data from FMDQ Securities, the Nigerian currency fell 17 kobo (0.04 percent) versus the US dollar, selling for N411.67/$1 on Thursday, down from N411.50/$1 on Wednesday.

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Market participants bid between N400 and N412.85 for a dollar during trade before settling at N411.67.

The market session saw a 61.20 percent fall in forex supply, with $114.68 million compared to $295.39 million the previous session on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the difference between the market rates for dollars was N128.33, with the black market pricing at N540 and the official market rate at N411.67.