Naira hits N707/$ at parallel market

The Nigerian naira, on Wednesday, weakened to N707 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market amid increased demand.

The figure represents N5 or 0.7 percent depreciation compared to the N702 it traded a week ago.

Currency traders known as Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs) quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N700 and the selling price at N707 per dollar.

At the official Investors and Exporters window, Naira exchanged at N436.50 against N436.00 on Tuesday, representing 0.11 percent depreciation.

The open indicative rate closed at N431.88 to the dollar on Wednesday.

An exchange rate of N437.50 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded within the day’s trading before it settled at N436.50.

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A total of 82.23 million dollars was traded at the official Investors and Exporters window on Wednesday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has consistently maintained that the parallel market represents less than one percent of foreign exchange transactions and should never be used to determine Nigeria’s naira/dollar exchange.

Last month, the apex bank called on private sector operators to repatriate foreign exchange (FX) earnings through official channels to ease the pressure on the naira.

“We are taking FX out of this country and dumping offshore; when we were told to bring them back. If Nigerians are bringing back FX, we would not be talking about the challenges of FX. There is a challenge for individuals and businesses to do the right thing,” Egboagwu Ezulu, CBN deputy director, banking services, had said.