The United States Dollar has slipped at the parallel market in its first trading day of the week as expectations remain high for enhanced supply of forex by the CBN.
A dollar exchanged at N440 at Zone 4, Abuja and Lagos, although some traders said the rate has fluctuated within the day.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the same time released another $100m into the wholesale forwards segment of the market and pumped an additional $80m into the banks specifically for the settlement of dollar demand for school fees, medicals and Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), among others.
In a release by its spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, the CBN said that its commitment to providing enough forex for legitimate business remains unshaken, reiterating that it would do “everything possible” to ensure the steady supply of forex to the market.
Naira has sustained its momentum since last week against the dollar, due to the new forex rule by the CBN. Some analysts foresaw the local currency bouncing back to its natural value at less than N300 to the dollar.
The CBN had maintained that much of the dollar demand had been a bubble created by speculators and hoarders of the greenback.