Naira falls by 2.8% to N545/$1 at parallel market

The naira has depreciated against the dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange market.

This was disclosed on Friday by the Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in Lagos.

According to the BDC, the naira exchanged for N545 per dollar at the street market.

This represents N15 or 2.8 percent depreciation when compared to the N530 it traded last week.

A parallel market (street market) is characterised by non-compliant behaviour with an institutional set of rules.

At the close of the market on Friday, figures from the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria, also showed that the local currency fell at the official market by 0.2 percent to N414.40/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that the parallel market is not a true reflection of the naira.

The apex bank had, in July, stopped dollar sales to the earlier authorised BDCs.

It said the BDCs had turned themselves into “agents that facilitate graft and corrupt activities of people who seek illicit fund flow and money laundering in Nigeria”.

In August, deposit money banks were commissioned by the CBN to cater for legitimate forex demand by citizens.

In compliance with the policy, the banks set up teller points for FX transactions in their branches to attend to customers with legitimate demands.