Naira Drops to N470 Per Dollar at Black Market

By Toyin Adewunmi 

The Naira dropped by N5 against the United States Dollar at the famed black market of foreign exchange traders. 

At the segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market yesterday, the local currency was traded at N470/$1 in contrast to N465/$1 it traded on Tuesday.

Also, at the black market, the domestic currency lost N2 against the Pound to close at N570/£1 versus N568/£1, while against the Euro, the Naira shed N5 to close N515/€1 compared with the previous rate, N510/€1.

However, at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Dollar by 50 kobo in Lagos to sell at N466.50/$1 compared with Tuesday’s rate of N467/$1. But against the Pound and the Euro, the local currency closed flat at N569/£1 and N515/€1 respectively.

In the city of Port Harcourt, the local currency also closed flat against the American currency at the BDC market at N465/$1. But against the Pound, it depreciated by N2 to sell at N571/£1 versus N568/£1 and lost N4 against the Euro to N517/€1 from N513/€1.

At the Abuja market, the domestic currency retained its exchange rate against the Dollar, Pound and Euro at N467.50/$1, N563/£1 and N513/€1 respectively.

In Kano, the local currency exchange rate also closed flat against the Dollar at N465/$1. It also remained stable against the Pound and Euro at N560/£1 and N507/€1 respectively.

A look at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Wednesday showed that the Nigerian currency depreciated against its American counterpart by 0.13 per cent or 50 kobo, selling at N386.50/$1 compared with the previous day’s N386/$1.

We gathered that during the session at the I&E segment, the total value of transactions increased by 44.9 per cent or $5.8 million to $18.71 million from the $12.91 million worth of trades recorded on Tuesday.

At another segment of the market, the interbank, the official exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained at N381/$1 at the close of business yesterday.