Africa-Press – Nigeria. Naira weakened against the United States dollar on Monday on the over-the-counter spot market segment of the currency market, called the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, closing at 386.
It translated to a 0.04% or 17 kobo drop from the rate of exchange at the close of trade on Friday, which was 385.83.
The local currency hit an intraday low of 394.83 against dollar before paring down losses to close at 386. Conversely, naira reached a high of 383 before falling to record the 386 close.
Trade volume slumped by 31.5% as liquidity worsened on account of limited dollar supply induced by the central bank’s move to ration the United States currency to conserve Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves.
Meanwhile, naira gained strength against the dollar on the parallel market at 483, relative to the 484 close it recorded at the previous session, data from abokiFX showed.
“I think that the CBN, by pushing the official foreign exchange rate from N306 to N379 to dollar, is in line with market demand.
“It has also helped to narrow the official-parallel market rates gap that formed the basis of ridiculous speculations among unpatriotic forex dealers and spectators,” said Aminu Gwadabe, president Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria.
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