Naira begins week on new low, exchanges for N820/$1

At the backdrop of sustained supply gap in Nigeria’s foreign exchange (forex) market, the local currency, Naira, has hit a new low at the weekend, trading N803.9 to a dollar in the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window which is the official forex market and N822/$ in the parallel market.

Findings indicated a 6.6 per cent decline in volume of dollars traded in the I&E window as dealers said they were disappointed that the increase in supply they expected last week did not materialize.

The dollar rate closed at N803.90 kobo/$1, higher than the N746.2/$1 rate the authorised dealers demanded at the close of trading the previous day.

This is according to data obtained from the FMDQ Exchange, which also reported that the lowest rate the United States Dollar was sold was N689.34/$1, while the highest was $829/$1.

While the naira weakened by 7.73 per cent in the official market, the value of the Nigerian currency dropped slightly by 0.8 per cent.

The increase in the rate of the USD in the Investors’ and Exporters’ window closed the gap between the official and black markets, as the dollar was sold at an average rate of N804.8/$1, which is N7 higher than Thursday’s N797.8/$1 rate.

READ ALSO: Naira drops to N805/$1 at official window

Similarly, the naira extended its depreciation against the pound, as both currencies were exchanged at an average rate of N1070.9/£1 in the Bureau De Change window. The parallel market pound rate rose from N1055.8/£1.

In the BDC window, the euro was sold at a higher price of N916.1/€1. The day before, the European currency was priced at an average rate of N903.9/€1, according to Naira Rates.

The value of foreign exchange transacted in the Investors’ and Exporters’ window dropped to $46.90 million on Friday, as the cost of the dollar rose.

Authorised dealers recorded a 46.32 per cent decline in the foreign exchange transacted when compared to the $87.38 million worth of forex traded on Thursday.

This means investors and exporters traded $40.48 million less forex in the official market as the price of the dollar was raised by N57.7 kobo.