Official Dollar Rate Surpasses Black Market Price, One Pound Hits N1002

In the official market on Friday, the dollar rate was increased by N14.27 kobo by the authorised dealers, while the naira depreciated by 1.87 per cent.

This led to their clients buying the United States Dollar (USD) at the rate of N776.90/$1, higher than the N762.63/$1 the USD was sold to them the previous day. 

Note that before the trading closed, the clients also bought the American greenback at a rate of N825/$1, the highest for the day.

Also, at some point during the session, the foreign exchange traders saw the cost of the dollar fall to a low of N700/$1, the official market aggregator, FMDQ Exchange, reported.

After trading was concluded in the official market, investors and exporters in the official market traded $73.42 million in foreign exchange. 

Meanwhile, the average USD rate appreciated in the black market to N774.3/$1, slightly up from the N772/$1 rate reported on Thursday. 

Also, the average naira to pound rate moved upward, as the black market traders recorded a N5.1 kobo increase in the cost of the British currency. 

The pound was sold at N1002.2/£1, which is more than the N997.10/$1 rate offered the preceding day, according to Naira Rates, a parallel market aggregator. 

In addition, the European currency, the euro, was placed on sale at an average price of N855.9/€1, in contrast to the N851.9/€1 rate the European Union’s currency traded the previous day. 

Although the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not released the pound and euro rates for Friday, it was learnt that the official price of the British currency was N826.8/€1 on Thursday, while the rate of the pound was N966.3/£1.