Speculators lose as naira strengthens to N1,020 on parallel market

Naira on Friday strengthened against the dollar, gaining 22.13 percent (N290) agaist the dollar to steady at N1,020 on Friday from the peak of N1,310 on Thursday last week on the black market.

Speculators are now offloading the dollars they have been hoarding, following news about government plans to increase liquidity in the market.

Wale Edun, the finance minister said in October 23, 2023 that Nigeria is expecting as much as $10 billion in new foreign currency inflows in the next few weeks to ease acute dollar shortages in the foreign exchange market.

The CBN has started clearing the foreign exchange (FX) backlog and delivered on over 75 percent to 80 percent of outstanding matured FX forwards in some specific banks.

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The pressure on the foreign exchange market eased on Tuesday and Wednesday as naira appreciated against the dollar at the official market.

After trading on Wednesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), naira strengthened further by 3.59 percent and 17.96 percent on Tuesday.

On Thursday naira depreciated against the dollar, losing 0.92 percent as the dollar was quoted N793.28 as against N786.02 on Wednesday.

With the current rates, exchange rate spread between the official and parallel market has widened by N226.72 per dollar. As of Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the exchange rate gap between the official and parallel market widened by 243.79.

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.