Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The exchange rate gap of the Naira to the United States Dollar at the parallel market and the peer-to-peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market became thinner on Thursday, as the official market closed for business for two days.
The Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market had been shut since Wednesday as a result of the public holidays declared by the federal government on Wednesday and Thursday.
The work-free days were observed by the country to celebrate Eid-el Kabir, a festival marked by Muslims across the world.
However, the other two markets remained operational during the holiday and the Naira, after maintaining stability in the midweek session, depreciated against the greenback yesterday.
Business Post reports that the domestic currency lost N2 against the Dollar on Thursday to sell at N770/$1 compared with the previous day’s N768/$1.
A slight disruption in the supply of FX into the market window weakened the value of the local currency during the trading day.
But in the P2P segment, the Nigerian Naira gained N9.40 against the United States currency to sell at N770.60/$1 compared with the preceding day’s rate of N780.00/$1.
The spot market is expected to open its doors to customers on Friday. There are indications that the space should come under forex demand pressure because of the two-day break.
