The parallel market, often known as the black market, saw a new low for the Naira on Thursday of N885 per dollar.
The dollar traded at N885/$1 on Thursday, down from N875/$1 on Wednesday as the foreign exchange market came to an end. This represents a 1.14 percent decline in the value of the naira.
Traders blamed the increasing demand for dollars from importers and travelers for the depreciation of the naira.
Due to increased demand on the illegal market, the Naira first fell to N885 per USD in November 2022.
The pressure on the naira persisted at Nigeria’s official foreign exchange market, the Investors’ and Exporters’ currency window, where the naira lost 4.70 percent against the dollar.
According to data from the FMDQ, the dollar was quoted at N776.50/$1 after trade on Thursday, up from N741.64 quoted on Wednesday at the I&E window.
On Thursday and Tuesday, willing buyers and sellers maintained bids as high as N804 per dollar, which was higher than N830/$1 on Monday but lower than N799.50/$1 on Friday.
In addition, the market auction reported lower bids of N700 per dollar on Thursday and Tuesday, which were weaker than the N651.00 per dollar offer on Monday but greater than the N465.00 bid placed at the I&E window on Friday.
The volume of the daily FX market turnover, which reflects the volume of transactions at the I&E window, declined by 34.01 percent to $44.43 million on Thursday from $67.33 million recorded on Tuesday.
