Naira Weakens to N470/$1 at BDC Market as Forex Shortage Persists

By Adedapo Adesanya

The persistent shortage of foreign exchange (forex) at the currency market in Nigeria has continued to put huge pressure on the Naira.

At the Bureaux de Change (BDC) segment of the market on Wednesday, the value of the local currency against the United States Dollar was further weakened in Lagos by N1.50 to close at N470/$1 compared with the Tuesday’s N468.50/$1.

Business Post gathered from the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) that at the same location, Lagos, the domestic lost N7 against the Pound to close at N580/£1 versus the previous rate of N573/£1 and dropped 50 kobo on the Euro to sell at N527.50/€1 in contrast to N527/€1 it quoted on Tuesday.

In Port Harcourt, operators traded the Dollar at N470/$1 compared with the previous session’s N468/$1, indicating a decline by N2. Against the Pound, the Naira lost N3 to close at N577/£1 in contrast to N574/£1, while against the Euro, it depreciated by N1 to N527/€1 from N526/€1.

However, at the Abuja BDC market, the Naira closed flat against the greenback at N468/$1, but lost N14 against the Pound to sell at N576/£1 versus N590/£1 of the preceding session and appreciated by N28 against the Euro to quote at N527/€1 compared to N555/€1 it traded on Tuesday.

In Kano, the local currency closed flat against the Dollar at N468/$1 and further remained unchanged against the Pound and Euro at N570/£1 and N520/€1 respectively.

At the interbank segment of the forex market, the value of the Naira to the Dollar remained stable at N381/$1 at the close of transactions yesterday.

It was a similar scenario at the black market, where the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar on Wednesday at N472/$1. Against the Euro, the local currency remained flat at N530/€1, but lost N3 on the Pound to trade at N578/£1 versus N575/£1 of Tuesday.

Also, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, the Naira retained its previous exchange rate against the greenback at N388.17/$1.

This was helped by the further decline in the demand for forex at the window yesterday as the trading value went down by 59.1 per cent or $17.60 million to $12.17 million from $29.77 million on Tuesday.