Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the Dollar across the various key cities in Nigeria at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, May 20.
According to data harvested by Business Post from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the value of Naira decreased at the Lagos BDC market yesterday by N2.50 to trade at N457 to a dollar compared with N454.50/$1 it traded previously.
However, the local currency retained its preceding session’s rates against the British Pound and Euro at N540/£1 and N472/€1 respectively.
In the nation’s capital city of Abuja, the local currency depreciated against the American currency by N9 to quote at N448/$1 as against N457/$1 of the previous trading day. Likewise, against the pound, the Naira dropped N8 to N550/£1 from N542/£1 and against the Euro, it closed the session at N475/€1, after dropping N2 from the N473/€1 it ended on Tuesday.
At the BDC market in the city of Kano, the domestic currency was weakened against the Dollar on Wednesday by N12.50 to trade at N457.50 per dollar in contrast to N445/$1 it traded the previous session. While the Naira traded flat against the Pound in the ancient northern Nigerian city at N542/£1, it lost N5 on the Euro to end at N473/€1 versus N468/€1 it sold on Tuesday.
The Naira exchange rate against the US Dollar at the Port Harcourt BDC market was flat at N448/$1. The local currency also remained unchanged against the Pound and Euro at N542/£1, and N473/€1 respectively.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the forex market on Wednesday, the Naira lost 9 kobo or 0.02 percent on the Dollar to sell at N386.42/$1 in contrast to the previous rate of N386.33/$1.
According to data sourced by Business Post from FMDQ Securities Exchange, the decline was caused by the pressure on the Nigerian currency as a result of a rise in the demand for forex at the segment.
The value of trades recorded at the investors’ window at the midweek trading session increased by 890 percent or $77.1 million to $85.8 million from $8.67 million.
At the parallel market, the domestic currency closed flat against the US Dollar at N460/$1. However, it fell by N5 against the Euro at the midweek session to N470/€1 from N465/€1 and depreciated by N10 against the pound to sell at N550 compared with N540/£1 it traded on Tuesday.
The Naira/Dollar exchange rate at the interbank market remained at N361/$1.
