The naira is trading higher on the black market for the first time since 2015, exactly one week after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shut down the foreign currency (FX) market to allow gradual rate harmonisation around the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) window.
In the history of the alternative FX window, this would indicate that end users are receiving dollars at a discount at the black market rate. On Monday, the I&E window closed at N770.38/$, losing more than 9% against the dollar in a single day.
The dollar still sells at an average rate of N750 per dollar at the street market, despite having breached the psychological barrier of N750 and trading close to the N800/$ range.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, Dr. Kingsley Obiora, the CBN’s deputy governor, denied that the latest move amounted to a free float as most media outlets have claimed. With the currency trading over N750/$ at the official market window, he continued, it is still too early to say that the value of the naira has bottomed out.
Guardian.