Naira falls to 555 per dollar in parallel market

The local currency had crashed to 540 per dollar on Friday, after trading at 535 per dollar on Thursday.

After tumbling to 575 per dollar recently, the local currency began a gradual uptick in recent weeks peaking at 530 per dollar last week.

Operators in the parallel market said the local currency was bought and sold at 550 per dollar and 555 per dollar respectively.

According to Punch, an operator in the black market attributed the fall to an increase in demand for the greenback.

At the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Investor and Exporter Window, the naira fell by 0.16 percent to close at 415.07 per dollar after reaching a new high of N445.75.

However, the CBN however maintained 411.63 per dollar as the official rate on its website.

According to local currency traders, lack of adequate liquidity in the retail end of the market is responsible for the naira crash.

“It is a sign we need to meet the demand for dollar in the market, this constitutes a major conflict in activities in the market,” a local operator who chose to speak on condition of anonymity said.