Naira on Thursday depreciated by 1.32 percent at the parallel market after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) denied a report on currency devaluation.
Africa’s largest economy’s currency recorded N8 gain in the morning on devaluation speculation.
After trading on Thursday the local currency exchanged with the dollar at N755 as against N745 in the morning of the same day at the black market.
A trader told BusinessDay that there was strong demand for dollar during the intraday trading as people were buying and hoarding, speculating that the rate might go up soon.
The Naira closed flat at N464.67 per dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.
Most foreign exchange dealers who participated at the market auction on Thursday maintained bids between N460.00 (low) and N467.00 (high) per dollar.
The foreign exchange daily market turnover increased by 53.27 percent to $250.98 million on Thursday from $163.74 million recorded on Wednesday.
Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, predicts a drop of 30 percent in demand for petrol on account of price deregulation, adding that that is huge for FX consumption. (BusinessDay)
