Naira gains, trades N746/$ at parallel market

The naira, on Wednesday, appreciated to N746 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange market.

The figure represents an appreciation of N6 or 0.8 percent compared to the N752 it traded three weeks ago.

Currency traders known as Bureaux De Change operators (BDCs), who spoke to TheCable in the Victoria Island area of Lagos said there was low demand for the greenback in the street market.

The traders put the buying price of the dollar at N740 and the selling price at N746, leaving a profit margin of N6.

“No demand. We have dollars to sell but people are not coming to buy,” a trader simply identified as Abdullahi told TheCable.

Meanwhile, the local currency appreciated by 0.11 percent at the official market to close at N461.50 on Wednesday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria.

Data from the platform showed that while the market opened with an exchange rate of N461.56 to the dollar, the highest price recorded was N544.50/$ within the day’s trading before it settled at N461.50.

A total of $431.77 million was traded in foreign exchange at the official investors and exporters window (I & E) window.

On Tuesday, the CBN monetary policy committee (MPC) resolved to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 18 percent.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, who addressed journalists at the end of the MPC meeting, said the apex bank would sustain a tight monetary policy to rein in inflation.