Naira to Dollar Now N320 in Parallel Market
The Naira on Monday exchanged at N320 to a Dollar at the parallel market in Lagos State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the value of the Naira on Monday afternoon remained the same as its rate at the weekend.
However, it traded against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N450 and N361 respectively.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian currency maintained N197 to the greenback at the official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate.
Traders at the market remained resolute that the Naira would soon firm up against other currencies as China and Nigeria strengthened trade relations.
The CBN had expressed optimism that the currency swap deal between Nigeria and China would strengthen the Naira and reduce high demand for the greenback in the country.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world’s biggest lender, had signed a deal with the CBN on Yuan transactions during President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Beijing.
According to the Presidency, by visiting China, President Buhari was aimed at securing greater support from Beijing for the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, especially in the power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing sectors.
The decision of the Federal Government to borrow $2 billion from China to finance the deficit in the 2016 budget has continued to generate controversies.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, last Sunday asked the federal government to recover $200 billion “criminally diverted” by a handful of local and foreign looters rather than borrowing $2 billion from China. Falana, who was speaking ahead of the President’s weeklong visit to China, urged government “to explore alternative sources of raising revenue to fund the 2016 budget instead of increasing the nation’s external debt.”
