Naira appreciates to 187, 188 against the dollar

The naira appreciated against the dollar at both the official and parallel markets, a survey conducted by NAN in Lagos, revealed on Friday.

At both segments, the naira gained three naira to trade at between N187 and N188, respectively from the N190 and N191 it traded on January 5.

The naira also appreciated against the pound sterling at the Bureau De Change (BDC), trading at N290 from the N292 it traded on Monday, January 5.

At the parallel market, otherwise known as black market, it exchanged for N292 from the N295 it sold at the beginning of the week.

It therefore gained two and three naira respectively at both segments of the market.

The naira remained firm against the pound sterling at the official (CBN) to trade at N260.36k since December 29.

Also, at the BDCs, the naira traded for N227 against the Euro from the N229 it sold on January 5.

It went for N233 to one Euro at the parallel market, as against the N235 it traded on Monday January 5.

Harrison Owoh, a dealer and the managing director of HJ Trust Investment Limited Lagos, said that the naira appreciated because the market had not been stable after the public holidays.

Owoh said that a lot of the dealers and buyers had not returned from the holidays, thereby making sales “dull” because of less demand for foreign currencies.

In November, the CBN announced a new exchange rate of N168 to one US dollar from the old rate of N155.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, explained that the measure was to strengthen the economy, following continued slide of oil prices at the international market.