BDC Operators Exchange Pound Sterling at N614 in Abuja

By Adedapo Adesanya

The foreign exchange (forex) crisis in Nigeria further hit hard on the Naira on Thursday, depreciating by N4 against the British Pound Sterling at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market in Abuja.

According to data obtained by Business Post from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the local currency declined at the nation’s capital city to N614/£1 compared to N610/£1 it sold the day before.

On the Dollar, the local currency lost N1 to sell for N475/$1 versus N474/$1 it was sold previously and on the Euro, the domestic currency closed flat at N550/€1.

At the Lagos BDC market, the domestic currency dropped N1 against the Pound to N611/£1 from N610/£1 while it gained N1 against the greenback to close at N474/$1 compared to N475/$1 of Wednesday and also gained N5.50 on the Euro to close at N546.50/€1 versus N552/€1.

At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the local currency made a N1 loss against the British currency to trade at N611/£1 compared with N610/£1 of the preceding day and remained unchanged against the Dollar at N475/$1 but fell by N1 against the Euro to close at N551/€1 in contrast to N550/€1 it was sold on Wednesday.

In Kano, the local currency traded flat against the three major foreign currencies; the Dollar, Pound and Euro, closing at N475/$1, N575/£1 and N548/€1 respectively.

At the black market yesterday, the Naira depreciated by N2 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N610/£1 in contrast to N608/£1 it went for the previous session.

However, the local currency closed flat on the Dollar at N477/$1 and appreciated by N2 against the Euro to N548/£1 from the previous day’s N550/£1.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, the local currency closed flat at N386/$1 in the midst of a 86.7 per cent or $196.98 million decline in the turnover of the day, which was $30.31 million compared with the previous session’s $227.29 million.

Equally, at the interbank window of the market, the official exchange rate of the Naira/Dollar remained at N381/$1.