Naira stabilises at parallel market, depreciates further at official window

The naira traded flat at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday.

The rate stood at N1,490 per dollar at the parallel market — same as the rate traded on May 29.

Speaking to TheCable in Lagos, currency traders, also known as bureau de change (BDC) operators, quoted the buying rate of the greenback at N1,470 and the selling price at N1,490 — leaving a profit margin of N20.

At the official window, the local currency depreciated marginally by 0.08 percent to N1,485.99 on Friday — from N1,484.74 on May 30.

According to FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the official FX trading in Nigeria, during Friday’s trading hours, the exchange rate recorded a high of N1,550/$ and a low of N1,174.88/$.

The daily foreign exchange market turnover stood at $218.52 million.

On May 29, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON) called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to review the minimum capital base for tier-1 operators to N500 million and tier-2 operators to N100 million.

Aminu Gwadabe, president of ABCON, spoke during an emergency meeting of bureau de change (BDC) operators.

On May 22, CBN released the approved guidelines for BDC operations in the country.

The apex bank raised the capital requirement for tier-1 BDC operators from N35 million to N2 billion, while tier-2 operators were mandated to have a capital base of N500 million.