Fakoyejo Olalekan
On Wednesday, foreign exchange investors and exporters in the official and black markets saw the gap between both markets’ dollar rates shrink by 66.6%.
This represents a reduction of N192.37, as the gap reduced from N288.63 kobo recorded on Tuesday, to N96.26 kobo the next day.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa learnt the gap shrink after the naira to dollar exchange rate closed at N664.04/$1 in the official market, compared to N471.67/$1 rate reported the previous day.
In the black market, the dollar was offered at an average rate of N760.3/$1, in contrast to the N755.7/$1 rate the naira exchanged to the American greenback the day before, according to non-official rate aggregator, Naira Rates.
The reduction in the gap was largely driven by the devaluation of the naira in the official market, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adopted the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ model for the investors and exporters window in the official channel, to further liberalise the exchange market in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the naira to pound rate in the parallel channel averaged N976/£1 on Wednesday, contrasting with the previous day’s N964.6/£1 rate.
Prime Business Africa noted that while the pound rate increased by N11.4 kobo or 1.18%, that of the euro rose by N5.4 kobo.
This means the value of the Nigerian currency fell by 0.65% to the European currency, as buyers were sold the latter at N834.4/€1 rate, which is an increase when compared to the N829/€1 rate reported on Tuesday by the aggregator.
