Naira hits new low of 1,610/$ as dollar scarcity resumes on black market

The naira on Wednesday fell to a new low of 1,610 against the dollar following dollar scarcity on the parallel market, popularly called black market.

Traders in some areas of Lagos buy dollars from individuals at the rate of N1,600 and resell at N1,610 on the black market. This presents N5 loss when compared to N1,605 quoted for the past three trading days. The last time the dollar quoted at N1,610 was on July 30, 2024.

“The dollar is scarce in the market but the demand is not much due to the high cost”, one street trader told BusinessDay on Wednesday.

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“This period is summer, people are traveling. Aside from that foreign students are looking for school fees. These are some of the factors. I am not sure it is because of this dollar bond issuance that we are having this scarcity”, said Ayokunle Olubunmi, head of financial institutions ratings at Agusto Consulting.

The naira on Tuesday lost 0.81 percent as the dollar was quoted at N1,592.06 compared to N1,579.22 quoted on Monday at Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited.

The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), last week, unveiled a year tenor tax-exempt bond worth $500 million to local and foreign investors.

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.