The Nigerian naira, the official currency of Nigeria, has experienced a notable appreciation of 6.3% against the US Dollar, trading at N890 per dollar in the parallel market. This upturn has been particularly evident in the Victoria Island area of Lagos, where Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators have observed a consistent strengthening of the naira against the American currency.
BDC operators in Victoria Island have reported buying prices for the dollar at N870 and selling prices at N890, resulting in an N20 profit margin. One currency trader in the region stated, “Dollar has been dropping. Yesterday, I sold it for N930. No matter how the dollar goes up, it always comes back down. That’s how it is.”
Conversely, currency traders in the Agbara area of Ogun state have noted slightly different rates, purchasing the local currency at N850/$ and selling it at N860 per dollar.
However, at the investors and exporter’s (I&E) forex window, the naira has experienced a depreciation of 4.08%, closing at N774.77/$ on Tuesday. This data was sourced from the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, which is the platform for official forex trading. The highest rate within the trading day was N799.9 to the dollar, eventually settling at N774.77.
Market dealers transacted forex worth $95.79 million during the trading period.
In light of the consistent fall of the naira against the US dollar, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced on Monday that new measures would be taken to stabilize the naira’s value. Folasodun Shonubi, acting governor of the CBN, confirmed that President Bola Tinubu expressed concern over the currency’s decline and emphasized that concerted efforts would be made to address the situation.
“We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply, but are touched by speculative demand from people,” Shonubi said.
“Some of the plans and strategies, which I am not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them.
“But my presence here is more about the concerns the president has and his needs to know that we are doing something about it, assurances of which I have given him totally.
