Nigeria naira firms on black market as banks reject dollar deposits

Pulse Staff 10:53 - 03 August 2015

A money dealer counts the Nigerian naira on a machine in his office in the commercial capital of Lagos, January 13, 2009. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

The naira was quoted at 216 on the parallel market on Monday, a sharp rise from 240 a week ago, as Nigerian commercial banks stopped accepting cash deposits in dollars, traders said.

The naira closed at 225 on the parallel market on Friday, traders said. On the official interbank market, it traded near the central bank's pegged rate of 197.

"Banks are rejecting dollar deposits ... they are not able to transfer excess liquidity to their correspondent banks abroad which is restricting importers from using domiciliary accounts," said Aminu Gwadabe, President of Nigeria's Bureau de Change association.