The naira weakened in the unofficial market on Wednesday, trading at ₦1,705 per dollar, according to Bureau De Change operators in Lagos and Abuja.
Aliyu Sani, a BDC operator in Lagos, told *The PUNCH* that he sold dollars at ₦1,705 and bought them at ₦1,695. In Abuja, the rate was slightly lower at ₦1,700.
Currency trader Suraju Ajao mentioned that he sold dollars at ₦1,700 and bought at ₦1,690.
On the Nigerian Autonomous Forex Exchange Market, hosted by FMDQ Securities, the naira closed at ₦1,659.69 per dollar, reflecting a 0.04 per cent drop from Tuesday’s ₦1,658.97. In the official market, the naira traded between a high of ₦1,682 and a low of ₦1,562.97. Daily turnover also fell to $177.10 million from $217.86 million on Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, the naira hit a new low, closing at ₦1,700 per dollar, down 0.29 per cent from ₦1,695 on Friday. The World Bank recently ranked the naira among the worst-performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2024.
By August, the naira had depreciated by around 43 per cent year-to-date, placing it among the weakest currencies alongside the Ethiopian birr and the South Sudanese pound. The decline is driven by soaring demand for U.S. dollars in Nigeria’s parallel market, limited dollar inflows, and slow foreign exchange disbursements from the central bank.
