Naira gains, trades N775/$ at parallel market

The naira, on Monday, appreciated to N775 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange market.

The figure represents an appreciation of N15 or 1.9 percent compared to the N790 it traded last week.

Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, popularly known as ‘abokis’, who spoke to TheCable in Alade Market, Ikeja, Lagos, quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N770 and the selling price at N775 per dollar, leaving N5 profit margin.

Musa, a BDC operator in the Victoria Island area of Lagos, said that buying and selling prices stood at N770/$ and N780/$, respectively.

He said there was low demand for the greenback in the street market.

“Most people importing goods from abroad to sell in Nigeria by December have already sent their money. They don’t need to buy dollars for now,” Musa told TheCable.

On the official market side, the local currency appreciated by 0.02 percent to close at N445.67 on Friday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange — a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria.

Last month, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, announced the plan to redesign N200, N500 and N1,000 naira notes to control the money supply and aid security agencies in tackling illicit financial flow.

The decision has continued to generate public outbursts as experts insist it would negatively affect the economy.

However, Aminu Gwadabe, president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has predicted that the local currency would appreciate after the redesign of the three naira notes.

He added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would likely “close the gap between the flexible versus fixed exchange rate to flood the market with capital inflows”.