Naira Weakens to N450 Per Dollar at Parallel Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated against the Dollar to N450 at the parallel segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Tuesday, May 12. The local currency lost N5 yesterday. At the traded at the previous session at N445/$1.

At the same segment, the domestic currency closed flat against the Pound at N535/£1 and also remained unchanged against the Euro at N455/€1.

At the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window, Business Post gathered from the FMDQ Securities Exchange that the exchange rate of the Naira/Dollar remained at N386.94/$1.

It was observed that during the session, the demand for Dollar broadly increased by 111 percent or $11.12 million, pushing the value of transactions to $21.10 million from the previous day’s $9.98 million.

This rise in forex demand put a huge pressure on the local currency at the market as investors scramble for the few available Dollar, causing a spike in the exchange rate.

However, at the interbank window of the market, things remained quiet as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold the Dollar to authorised forex dealers, especially banks, at N361/$1, the same rate it was sold the previous session.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment, according to the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the local currency remained unchanged against the Dollar in Lagos at N444/$1. Also, against the British Pound, it also closed flat at N535/£1 and against the Euro, the Naira remained flat at N465/€1.

In Abuja, the local currency was flat against the Dollar at N457/$1. It also remained unchanged against the Pound and the Euro at N498/£1 and N440/€1 respectively.

At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the Naira also closed flat at N430/$1 and further remained unchanged against the Pound and Euro at N515/£1 and N450/€1 respectively.

In Kano, the local currency traded flat against the Dollar, Pound Sterling and Euro trading at N459/$1, N498/£1 and N440/€1 respectively.