The foreign exchange crisis in Nigeria deepened on Thursday as the parallel market witnessed a significant surge in the exchange rate, with the dollar being traded for more than N1,000.
According to Daily Trust, reports from various black markets in Lagos indicated that the dollar initially traded for rates ranging between N1,000 and N1,050 in the early hours of Thursday.
Subsequently, it settled at around N990 by the evening, highlighting a substantial disparity of N252 when compared to the official Investors & Exporters FX window, where the naira closed at N738.
This growing gap between the official and parallel exchange rates has been a persistent trend since the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the unification of all foreign exchange market segments back in June.
Despite the CBN’s unification policy, the parallel market continues to thrive due to ongoing challenges in securing sufficient dollar reserves in the official market, as noted by industry operators.
“There is scarcity at the market,” said Ismail Muhammed, one of the operators at Allen Roundabout.
“We are now buying dollars for N990 but earlier in the day, it was sold for N1, 000. Some people exchanged it for N1, 050,” he said.
Another operator, Alhaji Abdullahi Olugbede, stated that the rise was caused by a lack of dollars, as most licenced Bureau De Change Operators do not have any to trade with.
“When there is scarcity, the dollar will go up against the naira but we are not happy. We should pray that it will come down because this is not good,” he said.
