Ngozi Amuche
Nigerian naira gained against the greenback on the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) forex window on Thursday by 0.02 to N394.60 compared with N394.67 per dollar the previous day.
The local currency, however, held steady at N480 to the dollar on the parallel market, the same level it has been since last Friday.
Most participants at the I&E market maintained bids between N381.00 and N408.18 per dollar through the day.
Many had expected the naira to strengthen further at the parallel market in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new forex policy allowing recipients of diaspora remittances to receive their money in dollars beginning from last Friday.
Dealers said the dollar liquidity level has not significantly changed since the new policy kick-off and may remain like that in the near term.
“The gap between dollar supply and demand is so huge and it will take a consistent inflow to alter the exchange rate,” a dealer said.
Currency traders, however, optimistic that the naira could get some support from the CBN as the oil price rallied around $50 per barrel on Thursday.