The naira traded almost unchanged against the dollar in the official foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday as Nigeria’s external reserves eased and market liquidity moderated.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed the dollar closed at N1,366.73 on Thursday, compared with N1,366.71 on Wednesday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
At the parallel market, also known as the black market, the naira weakened by N5 as the dollar was quoted at N1,415 on Friday, compared with N1,410 on Wednesday. Consequently, the premium between the official and parallel market exchange rates widened to 3.6 percent from 3.3 percent previously.
Activity at the interbank segment of the FX market also weakened. Total turnover declined by 4.28 percent to $58.42 million on Thursday from $61.03 million on Wednesday, while the number of deals fell by 17.4 percent to 71 transactions from 86 recorded a day earlier.
Although the NFEM figures for Thursday’s turnover and deals were unavailable at the time of reporting, trading activity had already slowed. Turnover at the market dropped by 37.97 percent to $363.13 million on Wednesday from $585.38 million on Tuesday, while the number of deals declined by 16.18 percent to 259 from 309 over the same period.
