The naira against the dollar has traded for 876/$ at the parallel market on Sunday, maintaining its downward trend.
A week earlier, the local currency had exchanged to the dollar at 820, some Bureau de Change operators, who spoke to The PUNCH, said.
On the reason for the recent change, the naira had continued to slide to the dollar, due to liquidity crunch, speculations, and other challenges. Another reason is the unification of the exchange rates in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria in recent weeks.
A BDC operator in Lagos, Alhaji Sanni Abdul, while speaking to The Punch correspondent said, “Naira is currently bought and sold at 850/$ and 876/$. The exchange rate has not been stable for some time now.”
Another BDC operator, Alli Ibrahim, said, “Things are getting more expensive. As of Friday, we were buying and selling the naira at 850/$ and 865/$.”
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the foreign exchange market was evidently under pressure as a result of a number of factors.
He said there was a curious surge in monetary expansion in the last month.
“Money supply grew by an unprecedented 15 per cent in one month between May and June 2023. Broad money grew by over N9tn, from N55.7tn to N64.9tn. This surge in monetary growth is unprecedented. Obviously, this must have had an effect on the exchange rate,” Yusuf said.
