Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira compared with the United States Dollar depreciated further on Thursday by N5 at the parallel market.
At the black market yesterday, the Dollar was exchanged at N430 in contrast to N425 it was sold at the same segment on Wednesday.
It was gathered that the restriction placed on movement in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State by the federal government has caused a slight scarcity in the supply of Dollar at the foreign exchange (forex) market.
Most traders of the foreign currencies have not been able to source for forex from the usual places as most banks have shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic despite being allowed to operate.
At the same segment of the market on Thursday, the Nigerian currency also declined by N5 against the British Pound to sell at N500/£1 compared with N495/£1 of the previous day, while against the Euro, the local currency retained its previous rate of N435/€1.
A look at activities at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) window showed that in Lagos, the Naira lost N13 against the greenback to trade at N434/$1 compared with its previous rate of N421/$. The Nigerian currency also depreciated by N10 against both the Pound and the Euro to sell at N500/£1 and N440/€1 in contrast to N490/£1 and N430/€1 they traded respectively on Wednesday.
At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the domestic currency depreciated by N7 against the American Dollar to N419/$1 from N412/$1. However, the local currency gained N8 against the Pound to sell at N487/£1 in contrast to N495/£1 it traded at the midweek session and then appreciated by N7 on the Euro to quote at N430/€1 as against N437/€1 it recorded on Wednesday.
But in Abuja, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the US Dollar at N415/$1. It also retained its previous rates against the Pound and Euro at N490/£1 and N440/€1 respectively.
Likewise, in Kano, the Naira exchange rate against the Dollar, Pound and Euro remained flat at N415/$1, N490/£1, and N440/€1 respecitvely.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the forex market on Thursday, the domestic currency closed flat against the Dollar at N383/$1.
Activities at the market window continued to remain low due to the pandemic and yesterday, the value of trades decreased by 52 percent or $27.78 million to $25.43 million from $53.21 million recorded on Wednesday.
At the interbank segment, Business Post observed that the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged yesterday at N361/$1.
