Data maintained by the FMDQ Securities currency Ltd. shows that on February 3, turnover in Nigeria’s foreign currency market surged to $844 million, the largest dollar deal since June 2, 2022.
The amount is three times more than the $266 million traded on February 1.
The spike can be attributed to the latest reforms by CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, who unveiled a series of measures that enabled the naira to trade more freely against the dollar.
There is better transparency in the official market and banks were mandated to offload excess dollars. The CBN also removed the cap on transactions by the International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).
The improved supply is rubbing off on the embattled naira which suffered wild swings last week.
The naira strengthened to N1419/$ on Monday, up from N1435/$ Friday.
Parallel market rate is not yet strengthening as much as the official rate. This is fanning fears that it may only be a matter of time before a huge gap re-emerges between both rates.
The dollar sold for N1455 on the streets on Tuesday, leaving a 2 per cent gap compared with the official rate.
