N1m Less Than $1K: Naira Plunges to Record Low at Black Market on Increased Demand
- The Naira continues its free fall against the US dollar in the black market, leaving the CBN with even more headaches
- The CBN had previously promised to continue intervening in the market to ease the pressure
- However, for now, the pressure remains very high, and the re-admission of 43 items into the official market has only made the situation worse
Nigerian currency plunged to another low against the US dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
BusinessDay reports that Naira fell to an average rate of N1,084 per dollar following increased demand by end users.
Source: Getty Images
This represents a 2.26 per cent depreciation over the N1,060 rate observed during the morning trading session on Wednesday.
Some other reports quoted a rate of N1,100 for the dollar, while others mentioned that traders were selling one dollar at N1,095.
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Checks show that the rise in the dollar rate is primarily due to individuals who need to travel for business, school, health, and tourism.
They had to use the black market because they couldn't obtain dollars from the official market.
Nigerians using fintech apps one dollar is selling at a rate of N1,115 on Wednesday.
This indicates that Nigerians travelling abroad or trying to purchase dollars can no longer use N1 million to get $1,000.
Exchange rate disparity
With the new rate, the exchange rate gap between the official and parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market has widened by over 100 per cent.
Legit.ng had earlier reported that a dollar was quoted at N848.12 on Tuesday at the Investors' and Exporters' (I&E) official forex window.
Also, during the FX auction on Tuesday, willing buyers and willing sellers offered the highest bid of N981/$1 and a lower bid of N700/$1, data from the FMDQ indicated.
The daily foreign exchange market turnover increased by 211.62 per cent to $134.28 million from $43.09 million recorded on Monday, October 16, 2023.
Yemi Cardoso unveils his plans as CBN Governor, promises shift From Emefiele's Policies.
In an earlier report by Legit.Cardoso promised a policy shift in the future direction of the apex bank.
One of Cardoso's plans is to shift CBN's focus away from direct involvement in development finance initiatives, a hallmark of former Godwin Emefiele's leadership.
Source: Legit.ng
