Forex Scarcity Bites Harder, Dollar Now N461 at BDC Window

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The scarcity of Dollar at the foreign exchange (forex) market is gradually biting harder on customers, who have to battle hard to obtain the ‘precious’ currency for their transactions.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market on Thursday, the Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar.

According to data obtained by Business Post from the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) yesterday, the domestic currency lost N4 against the Dollar in Lagos to sell at N461/$1 compared with N457/$1 it sold on Wednesday.

Then against the pound, the local currency shed N7 to sell at N547/£1 compared to previous rate of N540/£1 and on the Euro, it dropped N13 to N485/€1 from N472/€1.

In Abuja, the local currency shed N4 against the Dollar to close at N461/$1 compared with N457/$1 of the previous session. Against the pound, it dropped N10 to sell at N560/£1 versus N550/£1 and saw a N5 drop on the Euro to quote at N480/€1 from N475/€1.

At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the Nigerian currency depreciated by N9 against the greenback to sell at N457/$1 in contrast to N448/$1 it was sold on Wednesday. Against the pound, the Naira lost N1 to close at N543/£1 versus N542/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N6 to close at N467/€1 from N473/€1.

Also recording a movement was at the Kano market, where the Naira shed N1.50 to close at N459/$1 from N457.50/$1. Against the Pound, the local currency lost N18 to trade at N560/£1 in contrast to N542/£1 and against the Euro, the Naira lost N7 to close at N480/€1 from N473/€1.

At the black market on Thursday, the local currency traded flat against the American currency at N460/$1. It was a similar situation against the Euro as the Naira retained previous rates of N470/$1.

However, the domestic currency gained N5 against the Pound to trade at N545/£1 compared with N550/£1 it traded at the preceding session.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, the Naira depreciated by 8 kobo or 0.02 percent against the US Dollar to close at N386.50/$1 compared with N386.42/$1 it recorded at the previous session.

At the market window yesterday, the value of transactions decreased by 74 percent or $63.30 million to $22.50 million from $85.80 million on Wednesday.

At the interbank segment, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N361/$1.