Exchange Rates Gap Collapses as Naira Falls to N1,533
The naira’s decline against the US dollar at the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) has caused the official and parallel market rates to converge. At the close of the trading session on Thursday, the gap between the official and unofficial currency markets settled at about N2.
Spot FX Data quoted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its platform showed that the naira depreciated to N1533.11 per dollar and touched an intraday high of N1538. It also traded at an intraday low of N1520 before it closed the day at N1536 per greenback.
The official rate has depreciated for two consecutive trading sessions, though CBN updates showed foreign reserves climbed to $37.777 billion on Wednesday on fresh inflows. Gross external reserves started a fresh climb even without open market operations, suggesting the accretion is bolstered from other foreign inflow sources.
In the parallel market, the exchange rate appreciated to N1535 on Thursday, according to a channel check. This has now reduced the gap between official and parallel market rates to less than N2.
