The naira depreciated by 1.28% against the dollar on Friday, 23 October, in Nigeria, to 1,361.84 naira to the dollar, compared with 1,344.40 the previous day, while the volume of the interbank foreign exchange market reached 1.01 billion dollars, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data reported by BusinessDay.
Trading volume more than tripled from the 316.55 million dollars recorded on Thursday, as the central bank raised its currency sales to meet demand.
Analysts Ayokunle Olubunmi of Agusto & Co. and Muda Yusuf of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise say a longer series of trades will be needed to determine whether the demand stems from exceptional import payments, profit-taking or a sustained movement of capital.
On the parallel market, the dollar closed at 1,385 naira, compared with 1,373 the previous day. The gap with the official rate narrowed to about 24 naira.
Gross external reserves stood at 55.16 billion dollars on 22 October, up 28.67% year on year, according to the central bank.