The naira on Wednesday suffered a significant loss in value against the dollar at both the parallel and official segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market.
At the parallel market, also known as the black market, the naira weakened by N15 or 1.35 percent to close at N1,135 per dollar, compared to the N1,120 it traded on Tuesday.
According to currency traders known as Bureau De Change operators (BDCs), who spoke to TheCable in Lagos, the buying rate of the greenback was N1,120 and the selling rate was N1,135 per dollar.
“The rate was highly volatile today,” a street trader who identified as Aliyu said.
A parallel market is characterised by noncompliant behaviour with an institutional set of rules.
On the official market side, the naira depreciated by 0.55 percent to close at N874.71 to a dollar on Wednesday, from N869.91 on Tuesday.
Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria, showed that the highest price recorded within the day’s trading was N1,097.50/$,before it settled at N874.71/$.
JP Morgan, a US multinational financial services firm, had projected that the naira would trade at about N850 to the dollar before the end of 2023.
