Naira Appreciates To N680 Per Dollar At Parallel Market

The value of the Naira on Monday appreciated to N680 per dollar at the parallel market on Monday, OduNews reports.

Bureau de change operators spoken to by our correspondents in Abule Egba, Ijaiye and Yaba areas of Lagos state pegged the price at N680/$1.

On the buy side, many of the operators buy from their customers at N670/$1 and it is with caution as most forex traders are scared of biting their fingers in regrets.

In the past week, the naira witnessed a free-fall after the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, stirred panic by saying security operatives would go after those converting the local currency to hard currencies.

Calm has however returned to the market on Monday as the Nigerian Naira traded at the black market at N680/$1, according to data obtained by OduNews.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped forex sales to BDC operators in July last year, accusing them of being involved in illegal financial flows and money laundering in Nigeria.

Recently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided a BDC hub in Abuja over allegations that some operators are mopping up foreign currencies.

According to reports, the invasion was a covert operation to “dislodge currency speculators who are alleged to be massively mopping up available foreign currencies”.

Some BDC operators were also reportedly arrested at the Lagos airport. There are indications that this action may affect the value of the Naira in the coming days as these operators would likely fight back and create an artificial scarcity, which would put the Naira into another round of pressure.

Meanwhile, the local currency fell by 0.66 percent at the official market to close at N429 on Friday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange — a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria.