The Nigerian naira experienced mixed fortunes in foreign exchange markets on Wednesday, depreciating in the parallel market while gaining ground in the official trading window.
Parallel market traders quoted the naira at N1,635 per dollar, down from N1,625 the previous day, marking a N10 decline. This represents a 1.8 percent (N29) depreciation since the beginning of the month in the unofficial market.
In contrast, the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market saw the naira appreciate to N1,596 per dollar, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data. This marked an improvement from Tuesday’s rate of N1,599.8, reflecting a N3.8 gain for the local currency.
The diverging trends widened the gap between official and parallel market rates to N39 per dollar, up from N25.2 on Tuesday. Market analysts attribute this growing spread to lingering dollar scarcity and strong demand pressures in the unofficial market.
The CBN has maintained its intervention in the official market to stabilize the naira, but the persistent premium between both markets continues to pose challenges for monetary authorities.