Market News

Naira depreciated by 0.84 per cent at the authorised market to close at N1,402.67/$1 on Thursday.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

Naira depreciated marginally against the United States dollar at the official market on Thursday, after recording a slight gain on Tuesday.

According to market data published on the FMDQ website, naira closed Thursday at N1,402.67/$1 as against N1,390.96 recorded in the previous market session on Tuesday.

Thursday’s rate implies a N11.71 or 0.84 per cent decline from N1,390.96 the local currency closed on Tuesday. Within the official segment on Thursday, the Naira experienced an intraday high of N1,299.42 and dropped to a low of N1,445.00 to a dollar before closing at N1,402.67/$1.

Foreign exchange turnover recorded within the spot market on Thursday was pegged at $234.84 million, the FMDQ data showed.

At the parallel market, the naira was exchanged at N1,300/$1 and above, as against N1020/$1 and above it traded earlier.

“The currency rate went up this week because we have observed an increased demand for the dollar, we don’t know if it will go higher than this,” a BDC operator at the Abuja Zone 4 axis told this medium.

The recent negative swing of the domestic currency against the dollar came after weeks of significant gains recorded across forex markets, amidst ongoing efforts and reforms by the government to stabilise the country’s currency rate at the FX market.

Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) got an interim court order to freeze 1,146 bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies being investigated for alleged offences of unauthorised dealing in forex exchange, money laundering and terrorism financing.