Naira appreciates by 0.94% against dollar at official market

The Naira on Thursday appreciated at the official market, trading at N1,566.82 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), showed that the Naira gained N14.83.

This represents a 0.937 per cent gain when compared to the previous trading date on Wednesday when it exchanged at N1,581.65 to a dollar.

However, the total daily turnover increased to 273.14 million dollars on Thursday, up from 108.16 million dollars recorded on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,650.00 and N1,500.00 against the dollar.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Bureau De Change (BDCs) operators to sell forex at a maximum profit margin of 1.5 per cent, aiming to correct market distortions.

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The bank directive by the regulator was to normalise the foreign exchange market through ongoing reforms.

 

The bank said that persistent distortions in the retail market were contributing to disparities in exchange rates, particularly in the parallel market.

 

Under the directive, each BDC is authorised to purchase 20,000 dollars at a rate of N1,450 per dollar reflecting the lower band of the trading rate observed in the previous session at Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

All BDCs are permitted to sell to eligible end-users at a profit margin not exceeding 1.5 per cent above the CBN (NAN)