Naira Maintains Gain On Parallel Market

The Nigerian Naira appreciated on the parallel market on Tuesday, following the introduction of Travelex to the Bureau De Change segment last week.

The local currency rose N2 to N468 against the dollar from N470 it was traded on Monday. While, on the interbank market the Naira closed at N304.75 to the greenback.

Last week, Travelex commenced the sales of dollar to Bureau De Change operators in the country, and immediately started selling directly to travellers to further boost liquidity in the market and aid economic activities.

Samed Olukoya, a foreign exchange research analyst at Investors King Limited, said “If the CBN and Travelex can sustain the current arrangement it, will help fight speculation and gradually prop up the Naira value against the dollar.”

While, other experts have said the Naira was being battered by market speculators and that the N500 exchange rate to the dollar was not the true value of the local currency.

However, Aminu Gwadabe, the president of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators, said that the authority still have to review the selling price of the dollars to the Bureau De Change operators to encourage Nigerians in Diaspora, whose remittances was being sold to the Bureau De Change operators.

He further stated that the new improvement in the Naira value would discourage the patronage of unlicensed parallel market traders and likely impact the progress made thus far.