By Kayode Ojelabi
Nigeria’s currency, the Naira, has again regained some value against the US dollar at the parallel market.
Dollar slipped against Naira on Friday, with the local currency exchanging below N1000 in the parallel market.
The Naira has been regaining its ground against the widely patronized US currency in the last few weeks, a development considered remarkable since it exchanged above N1000. From N1,150 in the parallel market on Thursday, the dollar exchanged for N950 on Friday evening and below in the morning, gaining over N200.
Daily Trust quoted sources at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, to have confirmed earlier that the US dollar exchanged for N750-N800 in the morning before appreciating to N950 in the evening.
The development is happening at the time the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was said to have started clearing the backlog of matured dollar obligations amounting to over $7 billion.
The beneficiaries of the CBN remittances were banks and airlines, bolstering expectations among foreign airlines operating in Nigeria.
For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier, Emirates, may soon resume flights to Nigeria as both countries finalise agreements which may see the Arab country lift its visa and work permit bans on Nigerians.
A Bureau de Change (BDC) operator in Lagos, Abu Dollar, said, “We sell at N950 as I am talking to you. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Yesterday was N1,150, but today it has crashed to N950 here.
“Tomorrow, I will tell you the market situation. Just call me.”
Another BDC operator at the MMIA simply identified as Mall. Ubaida said, “Dollar this evening, we buy it for N900. But in the morning, we bought it for N800. It is coming down because of what the CBN did.”
He, however, advised that the CBN should supply dollars directly to the BDC operators, saying this would further strengthen the value of naira.
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