Naira gains at official market as new notes’ scarcity worsen

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Nigeria Naira closed at N461.50 per $1 at the spot market on Wednesday, appreciating by 0.04 percent.

Naira gained slightly against the United States dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Wednesday , a day after it fell amidst scarcity of new naira notes in the country.

Data posted on FMDQ website, where forex is officially traded, showed that the local currency closed at ₦461.50 per $1 on Wednesday, translating to a 0.04 per cent appreciation from N461.67 to a dollar it traded in the previous session on Tuesday.

This became significant as forex supply within the business period skyrocketed by 30.1 per cent ($89.54 million) from $68.85 million recorded Tuesday.

The domestic currency touched an intraday low of N462.02 and climbed to a high of N446.00 per $1 before closing at N461.50 on Wednesday — the third business day of the week.

The official market window opened at N461.25 and closed at N461.50.

Currency dealers in Abuja said the dollar was exchanged at N765.00 to a dollar on Wednesday in the parallel market. This represents a N10.00 or 1.53 per cent depreciation from N755.00 per $1 it was exchanged Tuesday.

The currency dealers said Wednesday that the value of the naira against the dollar fell further because of the scarcity of new notes in the country.