Naira depreciates further to N295 to dollar at parallel market

The naira continued its slide against the dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday trading at N295 to the dollar. It was traded N290 to the dollar at the same segment in Lagos on Tuesday.

The naira exchange rate was, however, stable at N197 to the dollar at the official market on Wednesday. The naira has depreciated steadily since Monday when the apex bank stopped the weekly sale of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change operators in the bid to sanitise the market.

Traders at the market said that they were concerned about the depreciating naira exchange rate in the black market. They, however, expressed optimism that the policy might impact positively on the market in the long run.

Mr Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, announced the new foreign exchange policy at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday.

He said that the new policy was to stop “rent seeking activities’’ in the market