Naira under pressure, exchanges for N685/$1 at parallel market

The Nigerian currency, the Naira, has come under tremendous pressure amid demand from foreign airlines for Nigerians to buy flight tickets in dollars.

Recall that the likes of British Airways and Turkish Airlines have already sent out emails to customers that they would no longer issue tickets to passengers in naira.

With more people turning to the black market due to dollar scarcity, traders on Monday sold one dollar at N685 to potential customers.

The exchange rate was around N670/$ if the intending buyers are willing to collect a lower dollar domination bill of $1 to $50.

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The pressure on Naira was further exacerbated as commercial banks reportedly pegged the daily withdrawal limit from domiciliary accounts at $2,000.

Similarly, at the official market, the value of the Naira dropped to N429.43 to a dollar at the end of trading activities on the Investors and Exporters window.

This represented 0.08 percent devaluation when compared to N429.43 for which the currency exchanged for one dollar last Friday.

Data from FMDQ Securities where Naira is officially traded showed that participants exchanged $161.94 million on Monday, a sharp increase from the $50 million recorded the previous trade day.