Naira crosses N800 against dollar at parallel market

Naira fell significantly against the U.S dollar at the unauthorised parallel market on Monday, extending the local unit devaluation to N800 at the close of business.

This implies a 2.83 per cent decline from N778.00 per $1 it exchanged last week Friday.

The continuous devaluation of the naira against the dollar at the parallel market increased within the past three business days after the Central Bank of Nigeria announced plans to replace naira notes.

The apex bank said the decision was embarked upon to reduce excess cash in circulation and check counterfeiting.

Analysts have blamed the CBN move as the reason behind the further devaluation of the Naira in the black market, as holders of illicit funds are jostling to convert cash stacked outside of banks to dollars, further driving up the exchange rate.

Currency dealers in Abuja and Uyo said the dollar was exchanged at N800.00 and sold for N803.00 and N805.00 respectively on Monday.

However, the naira gained slightly against the U.S dollar at the official market within this period.

According to data published on FMDQ websites, where forex is officially traded, the naira closed at N443.00 per dollar on Monday.

This represents a 0.39 per cent appreciation from the N444.75 rate it traded on Friday last week, with $40.05 million posted as forex turnover for the day.