Nigeria naira hit a fresh low of 520 on the black market on
Monday, as retail currency traders tried to digest a new central bank decision
to sell dollars to retail users through commercial lenders, one retail trader
said. The central bank plans to sell $1 million weekly to each of the country's
21 commercial lenders at a rate of 375 naira to clear a backlog of demand for
retail users and try to narrow the premium between the official and black
market rates, traders said on Monday.
On Friday, the
naira was quoted at 516 on the black market. On the official market, the naira
<NGN=D1> was quoted at 305.50 Retail currency users buy dollars from
licensed bureaux de change (BDC). However, due to the central bank's inability
to meet dollar demand, BDCs have tended to source dollars from private sources
and resell at a much higher margin, fuelling the black market.
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