Fakoyejo Olalekan
The naira couldn’t hold on to the gains of last week, as the dollar rate increased by N100 in the black market, representing -17.6 per cent decline in the value of the Nigerian currency, on Monday.
It was learnt that the dollar and naira exchanged for N780/$1 during trading on November 14, rising significantly against last week Friday’s N680/$1.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelLast week had seen dollar fall to the rise of naira, with speculations that hoarders of naira are holding back the currency due to the clampdown on Bureau De Change operators by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Following reports that the central bank plans to release redesigned naira notes, hoarders of the local currency had been flooding the BDC centers to buy dollars, leading to the rate of the USD rising to a premium.
Similarly, there have been speculations that the US government plans to change the current dollars in circulation, this also forced USD hoarders to release the foreign currency. These factors led to naira gaining in the black market.
In the official market on Friday, the US dollar decreased in value, as traders exchanged both currencies at N445.75/$1 in the Investors and Exporters window.
In contrast with the dollar rate at black market on Thursday, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar had settled at N446.1/$1, depreciating in value by 0.08 per cent the next day, according to official data.
This comes at a time Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped from $37.247 billion recorded on November 9, to $37.221 billion last week Thursday.
Meanwhile, at the official market, transactions worth $255.15 million were recorded among traders on Friday, surpassing the $89.95 million reported on November 10.
