Technocrat Media
The Nigerian Naira has weakened to N590 to a dollar at the parallel market on Thursday.
The development is connected with the Easter holiday as more Nigerians are looking for dollars to travel out of the country according to TheCable.
The new figure represents a depreciation of N3 of the naira from the N587/$1 it traded for the last two weeks.
Black market operators (abokis) told TheCable that one dollar was exchanged for N590 on Thursday morning.
They put the buying price of the dollar at N585 and the selling price at N590, operating at N5 profit margin.
According to a BDC operator in Lagos, simply identified as Musa who spoke with TheCable, said there has been a surge in demand for the greenback because of the fast-approaching Easter holiday.
“I think it’s because there is no work tomorrow and Monday,” he said.
At the official market, the local currency depreciated by 0.01 per cent to close at N416.67/a dollar on Wednesday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign-exchange trading in Nigeria.
There was huge pressure in the market as the local currency touched an intraday high of N410.00 and a low of N444.00 before closing at N416.67 on Wednesday.