According to the Nigerian Tribune, the naira was worth N610 to a dollar on the parallel market in Lagos and Abuja over the weekend.
According to the report, the exchange rate in other cities such as Ibadan, Abeokuta, and Benin City had ranged between N600 and N605 to the dollar.
As of Friday, the official rate at the Investors and Exporters window was 419.02. Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) vehement opposition to patronizing parallel market operators, scarcity of the greenback through official channels frequently drives those in need of dollars to black market operators.
According to bureau de change sources, the recent rise in the exchange rate of dollar at the black market is due to heightened political activities as the political parties will hold their primary elections this week.
A black market operator who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said, “The pressure on naira is partly from politicians who consider it easier to make their transactions in the course of their politicking in dollars rather than the local currency because of the ease of portability.”
However, some stakeholders believe that the naira’s weakness in the parallel market could have been caused by falling external reserves and low foreign exchange inflows into the country’s coffers.