The official and black market rates have again parted ways far from each other with the naira extending its slump in black-market trading as the nation’s dollar shortage deepened two months after the central bank moved to a more flexible exchange rate to encourage inflows.
The naira weakened to N923 per dollar, compared with N917 the day before, according to Umar Salisu, a bureau de change operator who tracks currency data in the nation’s commercial capital.
Other traders in Lagos said, it has actually worsened to an all-time low of N950 to one dollar at the parallel market on Thursday afternoon as against the N897 it traded at the previous day. At the official window, data showed that the Naira closed at N782.38 per $1.
The disparity is now N167.62/$1 one of the widest since the unification of the naira on June 14th, 2023.
Bloomberg reports that banks are unable to come up with the dollars to meet demand, and buyers are increasingly turning to the black market, widening the gap between the official exchange rate and the price on the street.
Earlier this week, Blueprint reported that the naira plunged to a record low of N900/$1 on the parallel market on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, as demand for foreign currency outstripped supply with traders quoting the exchange rate as high as N900/$1 for “inflows” and N895/$1 for cash trades.
The peer-to-peer market, where cryptocurrency traders exchange forex, also saw the exchange rate soar above N900/$1.
Meanwhile, in the official Investor and Exporter Window, the exchange rate closed at N774.78/$1 while the NAFEX rate was N776.
The official market also faces supply constraints, with daily turnover averaging $80 million since July.
Forex traders who attributed the depreciation of the naira to a scarcity of supply, said that there were more buyers than sellers in the market and that the situation was unlikely to improve anytime soon.
