On Thursday, strong demand caused the Nigerian naira to decline to N751 per dollar at the parallel foreign exchange (FX) market.
When compared to the N742 it traded for a week earlier, the result reflects a N9 or 1.2 percent devaluation.
Operators of Bureaux De Change (BDC), also known as "abokis," who were contacted in Lagos stated that the buying rate for the dollar was N745 and the selling rate was N751.
The traders claimed that the FX shortage worsened last week as a result of the influx of business owners into the market.
According to information on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that regulates official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria, the naira declined by 0.06 percent on the official market to close at N441.50 to a dollar on Wednesday.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has consistently maintained that the parallel market represents less than one percent of FX transactions and should never be used to determine the country’s FX rate.
Recently, the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) said the “unorthodox” foreign exchange policy of the CBN impacted the naira stability across all markets and created a huge premium between official and parallel market rates.
“I am not a prophet of doom and student of continuing naira depreciation, but except fundamental goodwill and courage is demonstrated, the naira will continue to suffer loss in exchange for the greenbacks,” Aminu Gwadabe, ABCON president, had said.