Amid FX scarcity, naira trades N587 per dollar at parallel market

Nigeria’s official currency, the naira, has maintained stability against the US dollar at the parallel market for the past week.

The development comes amid the lingering forex scarcity in the country.

Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs), popularly known as ‘abokis,’ told TheCable that naira traded at N587 to the dollar.

The street traders put the buying price of the dollar at N584 and the selling price at N587, leaving a profit margin of N3.

The naira also exchanged for N587 with the greenback last week.

Meanwhile, the naira depreciated by 0.2 percent at the official market to close at N416.17 on Thursday, according to data on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange —a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to intervene in the official forex market from the external reserve in order to maintain the stability of the local currency.

Last week, Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, said he is focused on fighting inflation and designing a robust monetary policy for the country.

He was reacting to reports regarding his rumoured bid for the presidency in 2023.

“My focus at this time is a robust monetary policy and fighting inflation which is now a global problem; building a strong financial system in an increasingly uncertain global economy,” he had said.

“Development finance and supporting farmers and manufacturers in our self-sufficiency and import substitution drive; raising N15 trillion for InfraCo infrastructure financing;

“Building a world-class International financial center in Lagos; as we support the President Buhari administration to finish strong.”