Naira loses steam, slides to 555/dollar in parallel market

The local currency had crashed to 540/dollar on Friday, after trading at 535/dollar on Thursday.

After tumbling to 575/dollar recently, the local currency began a gradual uptick in recent weeks peaking at 530/dollar last week.

Operators in the parallel market, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday, said the local currency was bought and sold at 550/dollar and 555/dollar respectively.

An operator in the black market attributed the fall to an increase in demand for the greenback.

At the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Investor & Exporter Window, the naira fell by 0.16 per cent to close at 415.07/dollar after reaching a new high of N445.75.

According to local currency traders, lack of adequate liquidity in the retail end of the market is responsible for the naira crash.

“It is a sign we need to meet the demand for dollar in the market, this constitutes a major conflict in activities in the market,” a local operator who chose to speak on condition of anonymity, said.

(PUNCH)

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