The naira fell even more on the black market on Thursday, trading in Lagos for N950 to the dollar as opposed to N930 on Wednesday.
The naira, however, dropped from its opening rate of N782/$1 to N781/$1 on the Investors and Exporters (I&E) market.
Compared to the N897 it traded for earlier this week, the amount implies a loss of N53, or 5.9 percent.
There is a considerable demand for foreign currency in the street market, according to Bureaux De Change (BDC) owners in Lagos.
The BDCs set the price of a dollar at N935 for purchase and N950 for sale, leaving a N15 profit margin.
The IMF warned yesterday that Nigeria’s lax fiscal and monetary policies were producing excess liquidity, making it difficult for the naira to stabilize against the dollar two months after officials let the currency to trade freely. This occurred at the same time.
In a same line, commentators blamed the devaluation of the naira on the system’s excess cash. Some analysts explicitly accused state governors of utilizing this cash to mop up dollars, which put pressure on the foreign currency (FX) market.
Additionally, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Thursday that its 2022 fiscal year will result in consolidated Group and Bank profits of N103.85 billion and N65.62 billion, respectively.
As customers continue to bemoan the lack of dollars, the commercial banks have not been selling dollars for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), Education and medical costs, among other things, according to the development in the FX market since the unification of foreign exchange rates.