Naira weakens at N500/$1 in parallel market after CBN adjustment

The naira, on Monday, weakened further at N500 to the dollar in the parallel after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adjusted the rate across foreign exchange market segments on Friday last week.

At the Bureau de Change segment of the market, the naira weakened further by N5 as the dollar sold for N500 on Monday, as against N495 on Friday.

By implication, the naira has lost N140 year-on-year when compared with N360 as at November 2019 when it stood at N360, and N1.25 day-on-day compared to N496.5 on Friday.

The CBN had, on Friday, announced  the devaluation of the naira and urged Bureau de Change operators in the country not to sell dollars higher than N392 to end users.

In the circular signed by O.S. Nnaji, director of trade and exchange at the CBN, the apex bank said the volume of sales for each market is $10,000 per Bureau de Change (BDC).

“Please be advised that the applicable exchange rate for the disbursement of proceeds of international money transfer service operators (IMTOs), for the period Monday, November 30 to Friday, December 14, 2020, is as follows: IMTSOs to banks – N388/$1; Banks to CBN – N399/$1; CBN to BDCs – N390/$1; BDCs to end-users not more than N392/$1,” it read.

The foreign exchange has come under intense pressure following the decline in crude oil prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic.