Naira depreciates further to N1,620/$ at parallel market

The naira, on Friday, depreciated further to N1,620 against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

The local currency fell by N20 or 1.25 percent from N1,600/$ reported on March 1, 2024.

Currency traders, known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, quoted the buying rate at N1,600 and the selling price at N1,620 — leaving a profit margin of N20.

At the official exchange rate window, the naira depreciated to N1,627.40 against the dollar on Friday — a 1.57 percent fall against the N1,602.17/$ traded on Thursday.

According to the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees official FX trading in Nigeria, the dollar rate went as high as N1,640 and traded at a low of N1,413.  

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said foreign exchange inflow into the country increased significantly in February 2024.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN’s acting director of corporate communications, said the surge was driven by increased remittance payments by Nigerians overseas and the purchase of naira assets by foreign portfolio investors.

“Foreign investors purchased more than US$1 billion of Nigerian assets last month, with total portfolio flows of at least US$2.3 billion recorded thus far in 2024 compared to US$ 3.9 billion seen in total for last year,” she said.

The CBN spokesperson said higher FX inflows persisted in March 2024, owing to heightened investor interest in short-term sovereign debt following the recent change in benchmark interest rates.