Naira Exchanges For N441/$ At Parallel Market

Barely 24 hours after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) resumed dollar sales to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators, the naira on Tuesday lost N6.

It slumped from N435 recorded on Monday at the parallel market in Lagos to exchange at N441 to the dollar.

The Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N585 and N515.

At the BDC window, the naira was sold at N386 to a dollar, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N585 and N515.

Trading at the investor’s window saw the naira closing at N386.21 to a dollar as investors traded a total of 45.22 million dollars.

The naira, however, closed at N379 to a dollar at the official CBN window.

A report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said despite the sale of $51.8 million to 5, 180 BDCs on Monday, the impact of the intervention was yet to be significantly felt.

Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, a Senior Economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, noted that the volume of forex sold to BDCs was insignificant relative to the demand for dollars.

Tella said that the demand for dollars by genuine importers and for overseas school fees was very high.

“Unless the CBN is consistent with its interventions at the foreign exchange market in the weeks ahead, the naira may continue to fall,” Tella warned.