The naira has relinquished its gains from last week, continuing its downward trend as the disparity between the official and parallel market rates has widened.
The value of the naira has dropped in both the official and parallel markets. By the end of trading on Wednesday, the naira had declined to N1,710 to the dollar, down from N1,591 at the close last week, marking a 7.5 per cent depreciation in just three days.
On Wednesday, the local currency fell for the second consecutive time since the launch of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), trading at N1,665 per dollar after losing N85 from the N1,580 reported on Monday in the black market.
At the Central Bank of Nigeria EFEMS, the naira’s value, which had risen to N1,525 to the dollar on Tuesday, weakened to N1,545 by Wednesday’s trading close.
An increase in foreign exchange inflows had momentarily strengthened the naira at the official window, where it rose from N1,538.5 to N1,525 to the dollar on Tuesday.
Data from the FMDQ indicated that turnover surged to $401.17 million, with intraday trades ranging between N1,610 and N1,440 to the dollar. At the EFEMS, transaction rates varied between N1,557 and N1,515.
Meanwhile, some P2P exchanges quoted the naira at N1,715 to the dollar, while certain International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) listed it at N1,745. Stock trading apps like Bamboo and Trove reported rates of N1,730 and N1,736 to the dollar, respectively.