Panic as naira depreciates thrice in 6 hours

Currency traders in Lagos became apprehensive on Wednesday as the naira depreciated thrice in six hours at the parallel market.

The traders were meeting in clusters, painstakingly trying to unravel the rationale behind the sudden depreciation, after it had appreciated for about four weeks.

It exchanged at N467 to the dollar as of 4:30pm, after it traded for N455, and N460 in a couple of hours on Wednesday, while the pound sterling and euro closed at N560 and N505, respectively.

The Nigerian currency, after weeks of sustained appreciation, stabilised at N455 to a dollar prior to its depreciation on Wednesday.

At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Nigerian currency sold at N385 to a dollar, CBN controlled rate, while the pound sterling and the euro closed at N553 and N500, respectively.

The official interbank market was not isolated from the depreciation fever as the naira lost N1.78 to close at N306.78, from N305 it posted previously.

Traders at the market could not offer sufficient reason for the performance of the naira at the parallel market.

But this happened at a time when Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt were keying into the First Bank of Nigeria and Travelex Forex auction window.

Traders believe that the liquidity challenge would ease off by Thursday after BDCs would have bought Forex from Travelex in Lagos.