Naira crashes to N970 at black market

The exchange rate between the naira and the dollar plunged to a record low N980/$1 at the black market based survey by Daily Trust  on Wednesday as  traders said there no dollar to sell

This represents a 2.93% drop when compared with the N955/$1 that it traded the previous day as the foreign exchange crisis in the country continues unabated.

The gap between the official and parallel exchange has steadily widened, since the reforms.The current price is  20% weaker than the official rate of 776.60 naira per dollar as reported by FMDQ

Black market traders said importers were looking for dollars from them to bring in goods for Christmas sales, as they are not getting it at banks.

The naira has been losing ground since June, when the Central Bank of Nigeria allowed it to trade more freely and scrapped the old regime of multiple exchange rates.

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Recall that in mid-August, the dollar was quoted as low as N955/$1, stoking fears among investors that the exchange rate might plummet to N1000/$1. This, however, appreciated at some point to N840/$1 after the apex bank warned speculators about potential major losses due to the policies it hopes to introduce.