The Nigerian foreign exchange market continued to increase yesterday at the bureau de change (BDC)
and black market as the value of the naira dropped to a low of N232 and N236.50 against the dollar
respectively.
Daily Sun gathered that the value of the naira at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the interbank
end of the foreign exchange market, however, remained stable as the green back sold for N196.95 and
N198.58 respectively. At the BDC, the value of the naira against the pound dropped to N350. Pressure
had mounted on the naira at the parallel and black market after the CBN, a fortnight ago, curbed access
to the dollar on the official interbank market for importation of a wide range of goods, shifting demand
for hard currency to the black market.
The foreign external reserves, which had been trending downwards since last year, rose slightly to
$29.157 billion, as at July 2 according to latest figures made available by the CBN. This is the highest
figure since June 9, 2015 when it stood at $29.181 billion. Meanwhile, the rate at which banks lend
among themselves dropped as at the close of business yesterday.
Overnight rate dropped to five year low of 5.1250 per cent while one and three months rates dropped to
14.1547 and 15.5823 per cents respectively. Six-month rate, however, rose slightly to 16.3288 per cnet.
