Dollar demand shrinks as Naira strengthens to N740/$ at parallel market

The naira appreciated further against the dollar at the parallel market to trade at N740 per dollar on Friday.

The figure, according to The Cable represents an appreciation of N35 or 4.5 percent from the N775 it traded last week.

Bureau de change traders put the buying price of the dollar at N725 and the selling price at N740, leaving a profit margin of N15.

“We have dollars to sell but demand is poor. People are not buying,” one trader said.

Meanwhile, the local currency depreciated by 0.12 percent at the official market to close at N445.83 on Thursday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria.

Data from the platform showed that while the market opened with an exchange rate of N422 to the dollar, the highest price recorded was N447/$ within the day’s trading, before it settled at N445.83.