The naira closed against the dollar at N1,502 at both parallel and official sections of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday.
The current FX rate represents a 3.7 percent or N58 appreciation compared to the N1,560/$ traded on Monday at the parallel market.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the dollar traded flat at N1,535/$, however, the naira appreciated significantly to N1,503/$ on Thursday.
Bureaux de change (BDC) operators who spoke to TheCable on Friday in Lagos, quoted the buying price of the dollar at N1,470 and the selling price at N1,502 — leaving a profit margin of N32.
“The market has been fluctuating. It had gone as low as N1,490 this morning but closed at N1,502,” a BDC operator said.
In the official market, the naira closed against the dollar at N1,502 on Friday, compared to N1,512/$ reported on Monday.
However, the naira stabilised at N1,510/$ on Tuesday and Wednesday, before appreciating to N1,496/$ on Thursday.
Consequently, there was no gap between the black market and the official window as of Friday.
The last time both markets had converged was June 20, 2023, at N756 per dollar — a week after the government unified the exchange rate windows.
On February 3, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said eligible BDC operators have been granted access to the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to purchase $25,000 weekly until May 30.
CBN said BDCs will purchase FX from authorised dealers, which are banks licenced by the apex bank to deal in foreign exchange, to meet retail market demand. (The Cable)
