Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira came under pressure at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market on Thursday, June 4.
According to data from the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the local currency further depreciated against the the United States Dollar at the Lagos BDC market, selling at N447/$1 compared to N444/$1 it was sold on Wednesday.
An analysis by Business Post showed that the Naira, which traded in the morning in Lagos at N445/$1, first depreciated to N446.50/$1 in the afternoon, before crashing to N447/$1 at the close of business.
Against the pound in Lagos, the local currency shed N7 to sell at N550/£1 compared to previous rate of N543/£1, but on the Euro, it gained N5 to N470/€1 from N475/€1.
At the Abuja BDC market, the local currency shed N6 against the greenback to close at N447/$1 versus N441/$1, while against the pound, it retained the previous rate of N535/£1 and lost N13 on the Euro to trade at N478/€1 in contrast to N465/€1 of the midweek session.
The Port Harcourt market ended with the Naira losing N3.50 against the American currency to sell at N445.50/$1 as against N441/$1 it exchanged on Wednesday. Against the pound, the Naira lost N10 to close at N537/£1 compared with N527/£1 of the preceding session and against the Euro, it lost N9 to close at N475/€1 versus N466/€1.
Also at the Kano market, against the dollar, the Naira lost N3 to sell at N440/$1 in contrast to N437/$1, but remained flat against both the pound sterling and the Euro at N525/£1 and N470/€1 respectively.
A look at the interbank segment of the market showed that the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained unchanged at N361/$1 on Thursday.
However, at the black market, the local currency fell by N2 on the US Dollar to sell at N447/$1 compared to N445/$1 of Wednesday, while it lost N3 against the Pound to trade at N543/£1 compared to N540/£1 it traded at the preceding session. Against the Euro, the Naira likewise, lost N3 to sell at N470/€1 versus N467/€1.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, the Naira depreciated by 43 kobo or 0.10 percent against the US Dollar to close at N386.70/$1 compared to N386.33/$1 it recorded at the previous session.
During the session, transactions valued at $85.00 million were executed compared with the previous day’s $34.35 million, indicating a $50.65 million or 147 percent rise in the trading value.
