The Naira was at a record low against the dollar on Thursday, depreciating to nearly N550 at the unofficial market from N530 at last week’s close as demand for the greenback from importers continues to bump up against scarce market liquidity.
Checks in Kano revealed the record high forex rate especially at the Kano’s popular Wapa BDC market in Wapa, where forex traders said as of Thursday evening, a dollar was exchanging for N549, and that it could even exceed N550 before the close of the day.
Aminu Shua’ibu Malan, a trader in the market, said: “Prior to the last three days, it used to be around N520, but has now reached N550.
“This is caused by the high demand by importers and its scarcity courtesy of this Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy. We are afraid that if this policy continues, a dollar could reach about N600-N700, which will surely spell doom.”