Naira gains at parallel market, trades at N1,600/$

The naira, on Monday, appreciated to N1,600 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

It gained 1.23 percent from the N1,620/$ traded reported on March 8.

Currency traders in Lagos, also known as Bureau De Change operators (BDCs), quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N1,570 and the selling price at N1,600 — leaving a profit margin of N30.

At the official section of the FX market, the local currency appreciated by 0.58 percent to N1,617.96 on Monday — from N1,627.40 on March 8.

During trading, data from the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees official FX trading in Nigeria, showed the FX rate rose as high as N1,650 and fell to a low of N1,511.

Meanwhile, on March 7, Goldman Sachs said the naira will appreciate to N1,200 against the dollars in the next twelve months.

Goldman Sachs said tackling Nigeria’s currency and external liquidity crisis requires positive real interest rates and capital inflows.

The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on February 27, raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which benchmarks interest rates, from 18.75 percent to 22.75 percent.

Due to the central bank’s monetary policy adjustments and bill issuance, Goldman Sachs said both conditions are present in the foreign exchange market in a limited form for the first time.