By Adedapo Adesanya
The worsening scarcity of foreign exchange (forex) at the market is causing the Naira to reach its elasticity and it is beginning to crack gradually.
The situation has put the domestic currency under a huge pressure and it is slowly losing its value against the United States Dollar at the market.
Business Post reports that at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the forex market on Monday in Lagos, the local currency depreciated against the greenback by N3 to sell at N455/$1 in contrast to N452/$1.
According to data obtained from the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), the Nigerian Naira appreciated at the Lagos BDC market yesterday by N5 against the Pound to trade at N535/£1 in contrast to N540/£1 of the previous session, but shed N3 on the Euro to trade at N475/€1 versus N472/€1.
At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, data gathered by Business Post from the FMDQ Securities Exchange revealed that the Naira fell against the American currency at the close of session on Monday by 33 kobo or 0.09 percent to trade at N386.33/$1 as against N386/$1 of the previous session.
It was observed that at the market yesterday, the Naira traded as high as N390.69/$1 at a point and sold as low as N363/$1 before settling at N386.33?41 at the close of transactions.
During the session, the demand for forex increased by 117 percent or $21.73 million as the total value of transactions stood at $40.28 million compared with the $18.55 million recorded at the I&E window last Friday, when trades last occurred before yesterday.
A look at the parallel market on Monday, the local currency recorded no movement against the United States Dollar, closing at N455/$1, the same rate it quoted last Friday.
However, at the same market window, the local currency shed N10 against the British Pound yesterday to trade at N545/£1 in contrast to N535/£1 it previously traded and against the Euro, the domestic current closed flat at N465/€1.
At the interbank segment of the market, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained flat N361/$1.
Dipo Olowookere