Market News

Naira closed at N413.68 per $1, a 0.2 per cent decline from N412.88 it exchanged on Friday.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

Naira fell marginally against the U.S. dollar at the official market on Monday as foreign exchange supply fell.

According to data published by the FMDQ Securities Exchange where forex is officially traded, naira closed at N413.68 per $1.

This represents a N0.80 or 0.2 per cent decline from N412.88 it exchanged on Friday.

Foreign exchange supply on Monday decreased by 60.30 per cent with $91.23 million recorded at the spot market window against the $229.79 million posted on Friday last week.

The local currency touched an intraday high of N409.00 and a low of N415.00 at the trading session before closing at N413.68 on Monday.

The currency has seen an unprecedented decline at the parallel market in recent weeks after the Central Bank of Nigeria suspended sales of forex to money changers.

On Friday, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, also blamed the rapid decline on rates published by Abokifx, a website that monitors the black market in Lagos.

As of Friday, naira fell to 570 at that segment of the market, leaving a spread between the official and unofficial market at N156.32.

On Monday, that rate had not changed, according to dealers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES.