Naira finds a ‘resting place’ at 320 to a dollar

The Nigerian currency seems to have found a resting place at 320 to the greenback on the parallel market.

The naira, Nigeria’s prime legal tender, has been seen as revolving around 320 for over two weeks, with little or no indication of appreciation or depreciation.

Parallel market traders, otherwise known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, say the market has been sluggish, showing no signs of upward or downward movement.

“We are currently selling for N320 to the dollar and N355 to the pound,” a trader told TheCable on Tuesday evening from Abuja.

“The naira is just resting at N320, and trading slowly here in Abuja. We hear that the dollar may fall. They said CBN is sharing dollars for some banks, so we are expecting the dollar to fall.”

It was revealed on Monday, that the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) had allocated $921 million to commercial banks in foreign exchange obligations.

This was expected to impact the market positively, but little or no changes were experienced at the parallel market, as the 320 sales prevailed.

Following strict capital controls, against the wishes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Nigerian foreign exchange regime has continually grown a wide margin.

The official side of the market is trading at N197 to the dollar, while the parallel market is trading at N320, about N123 higher than the official side.