The Nigerian Naira has again crashed to a new record low at parallel market as it now trades at N520 per United States dollar on Monday, February 20.
The Naira plummeted at the parallel market from N516/dollar on Friday, February 17, to a new record low of N520/dollar.
The local currency also depreciated to N635 against the Pound sterling from N630 and crashed against Euro to trade at N545 from N540.
Economic and financial experts are divided over the outlook for the Naira this year but many have said the local currency may depreciate further in the coming months.
Economic and financial experts are divided over the outlook for the Naira this year but many have said the local currency may depreciate further in the coming months.
But according to a Bureau de change source, currency traders are trying to digest a new central bank decision to sell dollars to retail users through commercial lenders.
It was gathered that the Central Bank of Nigeria plans to sell $1 million weekly to each of the country’s 21 commercial lenders at a rate of 375 naira to clear a backlog of demand for retail users, and try to narrow the premium between the official and black market rates.
Retail currency users buy dollars from licensed bureaux de change (BDC). However, due to the central bank’s inability to meet dollar demand, BDCs have tended to source dollars from private sources and resell at a much higher margin, fuelling the black market.