Naira gains, exchanges for 490/$

The Naira on Wednesday exchanged to the dollar at 490/$ in the parallel market, after it had sold for N500 on Monday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria however retained the official exchange rate at N37/$ on its website, but had also pegged the rate for bureau de change operators.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had explained that, “Like other emerging market countries and countries reliant on oil exports, the decline in crude oil earnings as well as the retreat by foreign portfolio investors significantly affected the supply of foreign exchange into Nigeria.

“In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated from N305/$ to N360/$ and subsequently to N380/$.

“With the decline in our foreign exchange earnings and successive exchange rate adjustments, the CBN has continued to implement a demand management framework, which is designed to bolster the production of items that can be produced in Nigeria, and aid conservation of our external reserves.”