Nigeria’s currency has further depreciated in value by 3.20 percent or N14 as the dollar jumped to N451 on Friday from N437 traded on Thursday at the retail bureau in Lagos.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  on March 26, suspended foreign exchange sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators until further notice due to the Covid-19 lockdown as requested by the operators. The suspension not withstanding, some BDCs are still active in the market.

At the black market, one dollar was trading at N430, which represents N5.00k loss compared to N425 sold on the previous day.

“Anyone who still have some dollars can sell at N425 and make good returns because dollar is scarce now,” one of the dealers told BusinessDay.

The foreign exchange market opened with an indicative rate of N384.21k on Friday, implying a 0.36 percent gain compared to N385.61k opened on Thursday at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, data from FMDQ revealed.

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The FX daily turnover at the I&E window declined by 52.21 percent to $25.43 million on Wednesday from $53.21 million recorded on Tuesday.

Following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, the price of oil has fallen to as low as $22.07 per barrel as at Friday.

The CBN in March 2020 adjusted the exchange rate from N360 to N380/US$ at the I&E window, to stem the pressure in the foreign exchange market.

 

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.

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