According to currency dealers and market data gathered by Nairametrics, the Naira enjoyed a comeback versus the US dollar at the parallel market yesterday, rising to N1280/$.
This suggested that the Naira strengthened by N120, or 8.57 percent, in relation to the N1,400 to the dollar it traded at on Friday.
Dealers in currencies attested to having sold for between N1,280 and N1,300 per dollar.
Just two weeks after gaining to less than N1,000 against the dollar, the local currency had lost a third of its value by midweek.
Later, on the illicit market, it fell to N1,400 versus the dollar due to rumours of new demand pressure.
Many began to wonder about the effects of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (15.83 million) sales to 1,583 Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
The top bank stated on Monday that it was selling $10,000 to its authorised currency dealers across the country at a rate of N1,021/$1, as part of its efforts to help qualified end users access foreign currencies and stabilise the foreign exchange market.
Because supply could not keep up with demand, currency dealers blamed market factors for the Naira’s recent decline.
The Naira extended its declining trend against the US dollar at the official foreign exchange window on Friday, closing at N1,339.23/$1, according to data from FMDQ.
Comparing this to the N1,309.88/$1 recorded the day before, there has been a 2.24 percent depreciation.
The top bank’s recent measures have lessened the scarcity of foreign exchange, which has helped the Naira rebound from its early March rate of N1,617 per dollar to N1,072 per dollar on April 17.
