The dollar was observed to be exchanging for N735 in the parallel market on Wednesday as political campaign activities began in the country.
According to Bureau De Change operators in Lagos and Abuja, dollar price had increased from N718 – N720 to N728-N735 in the last one week.
A BDC operator at Amuwo-Odofin in Lagos, Bala Usman, said, “It is N728. I can’t go less than that.”
Another operator, Abubakar Jamiu, at Zone 4, Abuja, told the PUNCH, “Dollar don cost, we are selling at N730, no more no less.”
But the dollar rate hit N735 by the close of Wednesday.
An operator in Lagos Island, Mallam Zakari, said that dollar rate had surged to N735 as at 4:54pm.
“Dollar is N735 and I will buy it for N731. Yesterday, we sold N728.”
However, at the Importers and Exporters Window, rate still hovered around N430/$.
The dollar-naira exchange rate was N431.19 as of Tuesday.
Analysyts said the naira had weakened in the parallel market due to increased speculations, falling external reserves, and low foreign exchange inflows.
