Black Market, Official Window Forex Dealers Drop Dollar Rate

Authorised dealers and their clients traded the dollar at the rate of N771.69/$1 at the close of trading in the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window of the official market on Thursday.

This is slightly below the N773.42/$1 rate reported on Wednesday, indicating the naira appreciated in value by 0.22 per cent, while the price of the United States currency fell by N1.73 kobo.

At some point during trading in the official market, the dollar cost the clients as much as N799.90/$1 and as low as N700/$1, FMDQ Exchange disclosed in its foreign exchange (forex) data.

FMDQ Exchange also reported that $121.60 million in foreign exchange was transacted in the Investors’ and Exporters’ window, compared to the previous day’s $45.34 million.

Authorised dealers and their clients raised their foreign exchange transactions by $76.26 million or 168.19 per cent in the official market on the back of the decline in the dollar rate.

Meanwhile, the dollar was sold at an average rate of N898.6/$1 in the black market, depreciating from N901/$1 recorded during trading the preceding day.

Foreign exchange traders also recorded a dip in the rate of the United Kingdom currency, the pound, after it traded at an average price of N1157.2/£1, against Wednesday’s N1163.6/£1 rate.

Interestingly, the naira to euro average rate moved in the opposite direction compared to the dollar and the pound currencies, as the price of the European currency went up from N988.2/€1 to N989.1/€1.