Dollar closes N770.38 at official, higher than parallel market rate

The foreign exchange (FX) market closed on Monday with the dollar quoting at N770.38 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, which was 1.68 percent higher than N757 quoted at the parallel market, also known as black market.

After trading on Monday Nigeria’s currency, naira depreciated by 13.93 percent day-on-day to N770.38 as against N663.04 on Friday at the I&E window, the official FX market of Africa’s biggest economy.

Naira gained 0.39 percent (N3) as the dollar closed at N757 at the parallel market on Monday compared to N760 on Friday, at the parallel market.

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Traders attributed the naira appreciation to low demand for dollars following recent changes on foreign exchange policies by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The CBN on June 14, 2023 collapsed all segments of foreign exchange markets into the I&E forex window.

The CBN on Friday in a letter to all banks said cash deposits into domiciliary accounts will not be restricted, and that customers shall have unfettered and unrestricted access to funds in their accounts.

The letter signed by Haruna Mustafa, the CBN’s director, banking supervision department, said the new FX policy change aims to promote transparency, liquidity, and price discovery in the FX market in order to improve FX supply.