Naira inches close to N550/$1, exchanges at N730/£1

The exchange rate at the parallel market slumped to a new record on Thursday to close at N540/$1 compared to N535/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.

This represents 0.93 per cent depreciation and further widens the gap between the black market rate and the official rate.

Similarly, at the black market, Naira lost N3 against the British Pound Sterling yesterday to sell at N733/£1 in contrast to N730/£1 it was exchanged on Tuesday.

While against the Euro, it depreciated by N3 to settle at N629/€1 in contrast to N626/€1 of the preceding day.

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According to data posted on FMDQ securities exchange window where forex is officially traded, naira exchanged hands with the hard currency at N411.50 per $1 at the segment.

This implies a N0.83 or 0.20 per cent depreciation from the N410.67 rate it traded in the previous session on Tuesday.

Foreign exchange supply increased by 130.60 per cent with $295.39 million recorded at the market segment as against the $128.11 million posted in the previous session on Tuesday.

The persistent fall of the exchange rate at the parallel market has been attributed to demand pressure from Investors who couldn’t obtain forex from the banks. The latest depreciation at the black market takes the gap between the two forex markets to a massive N128.33.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves recorded a further boost of $102.45 million on Wednesday, 8th September to close at $34.69 billion, compared to $34.59 billion recorded a day before. The reserve position has gained $681.6 million so far in the month of September 2021.

The exchange rate depreciated against the US dollar on Thursday 9th September 2021 to close at N411.67 to a dollar, representing a 0.04% fall compared to N411.5/$1 recorded in the previous trading day.

An exchange rate of N412.85 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N411.67/$1, while it sold for as low as N400/$1 during intra-day trading.