Naira weakens at parallel market

The naira on Wednesday stabilised at N304.75 to a dollar at the official interbank market, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the nation’s currency traded at N385 to a dollar, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) controlled rate, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N564 and
N509, respectively.
The naira, however, weakened at the parallel market, losing five points to exchange at N470, from N465 traded on Tuesday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N565 and 510 respectively.

Prof. Sheiffdeen Tella, a senior Economist at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye in Ogun, said that the nation’s currency required a continuous inflow to sustain its appreciation at the market.
Tella said that the market had been witnessing marginal appreciation because the inflow was not based on production.
According to him, speculators take advantage of the movement of the naira to manipulate the market.
The don explained that manufacturers were also looking the way of the parallel market to source for forex, thereby putting undue pressures on the naira.

NAN reports that the sale of the proceeds of Diaspora remittances to BDCs had helped in sustaining the appreciation of the naira for about four weeks.
Stakeholders are, however, troubled that in spite of the weekly sale of forex by Travelex and First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) in Lagos and Abuja, the naira was still struggling to survive. (NAN)