Naira falls to 506 on black market

Nigerian Naira reportedly hit a fresh low on the black market on Friday, February 10, 2017.

The Naira was quoted at 506 per Dollar, as traders tested new levels to try to tempt dollar holders to sell.

The currency has hovered near the 500 level for more than two weeks and, with demand for dollars swelling, crossed the threshold as the unapproved retail market opened on Friday, according to Reuters.

On the official interbank market, lenders had traded only $1.30m at 315 per dollar by 1130 GMT, traders said, as the Central Bank of Nigeria continued to ration dollar supplies.

The local currency had closed at 499 and 498 on Tuesday and Monday, respectively.

This came almost two weeks after the Naira touched 500/Dollar briefly and returned to 498/dollar.

The local currency had been stable against the greenback for about three weeks.

Economic and financial experts are divided over the outlook for the naira this year but many have said the local currency may depreciate further in the coming months.

The external reserves also rose to $28.6bn on February 8, the CBN’s data showed on Thursday.