Dollar Goes For N605 In Black Market, Pound Sells Above N800

The exchange rate between the dollar and naira varies across several Bureau De Change operators on Friday, January 6, 2023, Prime Business Africa gathered.

On Friday, this publication noted that the United States dollar sold to the public between N605/$1 to N750/$1 based on the volume demanded, around Ogba, area of Lagos State.

After discussion with some Bureau De Change operators, it was learnt that the American currency was bought from the public at the rate between N600/$1 to N730/$1.

Also, the Bureau De Change operators put the pound rate at N760/£1 to N820/£1 for persons or traders interested in buying the British currency in the black market.

Meanwhile, to buy from the public, Prime Business Africa gathered that the pound rate is placed between N750/£1 to N800/£1.

Both the dollar and the pound are the most sought after foreign currencies in Nigeria. The rise and fall of these currencies drive the cost of living in Nigeria.

This is because the dollar and pound are internationally accepted currencies for global trade, compared to the naira which is only accepted for transactions within the Nigerian territory.

So with the dollar and pound selling at a premium rate or N200 more than the exchange rate in the official market, traders who import goods with forex in the black market will add this extra cost to the price of imported goods.

In the official market, according to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the naira exchanged for the dollar at N461.50/$1 on Thursday, appreciating by 0.04 per cent.

This means the cost of dollar fell by N0.16 kobo in the Investors and Exporters window, as it closed trading a day before at the value of N461.67/$1.

During trading on January 5, 2023, Prime Business Africa learnt that forex supply fell by 1.7 per cent or $1.18 million to $68.15 million, considering $69.33 million was transacted on Wednesday.