Naira falls further at official market

The naira weakened against the U.S dollar at the I&E window of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday as foreign exchange supply rose significantly.

However, the local currency remained stable for two successive sessions at the parallel market.

According to data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange window where forex is officially traded, the local currency (naira) closed at N411.25 at the trading session of the NAFEX window on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s performance represents N0.58 or 0.14 per cent decrease from N410.67, the rate it traded in the previous session on Monday.

This became effective as foreign exchange supply increased significantly. The forex turnover boosted by 201.5 per cent, with $98.33 million recorded as against the $32.61 million posted in the previous session on Monday.

The domestic currency hit an intraday high of N395.00 and a low of N420.23 before closing at N411.25 on Tuesday.

The last time the domestic currency hovered around N411.00 and below was on May 6 last week.

Meanwhile, the local unit remained unchanged against the U.S. dollar at the unofficial market on Tuesday, data posted on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel market rates in Lagos showed.

Data posted revealed that the naira closed at N483.00 again at the black market, the same rate it has been exchanging hands with the greenback currency since May 7.

By implication, the spread between the parallel market and the official market exchange rates is N71.75 which translates to a gap of 14.90 per cent.