Naira Falls to N600/£1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The local currency came under pressure against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro at the black market yesterday, causing the Naira to lose value against the two foreign currencies.

At the segment of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, the domestic currency depreciated by N10 against the Pound to trade at N600/£1 in contrast to N590/£1 it traded the previous session. In the same vein, it lost N5 on the Euro to settle at N535/€1 versus N530/€1 of Monday.

However, against the United States Dollar, the Nigerian currency traded flat at the parallel market at N460/$1.

A look at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the forex market by Business Post showed that yesterday, the Naira maintained stability against the greenback at N386/$1.

This was supported by the 83.6 per cent or $284.87 million decline in the day’s turnover to $55.71 million from the $340.58 million recorded at Monday’s session.

At the interbank segment on Tuesday, the value of the local currency against its American counterpart remained unchanged at N379/$1.

But at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market yesterday, especially in Abuja, the Naira gained N1 on the Dollar to sell for N460/$1 versus N461/$1 it was traded previously.

Against the Pound, the domestic currency was strengthened by N2 to N603/£1 from N605/£1 and got a N1 boost against the Euro to trade at N534/€ in contrast to Monday’s value of N535/€1.

In Port Harcourt, according to data from the Association of the Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the local currency was flat against the US Dollar at N460/$1 but gained N8 against the Pound to N595/£1 from N603/£1 and lost N1 on the Euro to quote at N535/€1 as against the previous N534/€1.

In Lagos, the local currency traded flat against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N460/$1, N598/£1 and N535/€1 resppectively. This same scenario played out at the Kano BDC market, where the Nigeria Naira remained unchanged against the Dollar, Pound and Euro yesterday at N440/$1, N585/£1 and N515/€1 respectively.