The Naira, the national currency of Nigeria, slightly strengthened against the dollar on Wednesday in both the official and parallel foreign exchange (forex) markets.
The value of the Naira was confirmed to have exchanged at N675 to the dollar as opposed to N680 per dollar on Tuesday by bureaux de change operators, or “abokis,” who spoke with newsmen.
They claimed that the FX market had once again become scarce.
According to FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that regulates foreign exchange trading in Nigeria, the naira strengthened on the official market by 0.52 percent to close at N428.75 to the dollar yesterday.
The foreign exchange market witnessed appreciation in the past week after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided a BDC hub in Abuja.
The anti-graft agency alleged that some BDC operators were mopping up foreign currencies, especially the dollar, to either hoard or smuggle the funds out of Nigeria.
To check the rising incidence of FX speculation, the EFCC vowed to clamp down on persons and organisations hoarding foreign currencies across key commercial cities such as Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Calabar.