In a recent development, Findwhosabi News has obtained the latest Dollar to Naira exchange rates for today, November 27, 2023, revealing noteworthy changes in the country’s foreign exchange landscape.
According to data sourced from the FMDQ Security Exchange, the official forex trading portal, the Naira opened at ₦813.67 per dollar on Friday, November 24, 2023, and closed at ₦794.89 per $1 on the same day.
Despite this official rate, the Naira is currently trading at a staggering ₦1,155 per Dollar in the black market. This surge in the parallel market comes in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) announcement regarding the unification of all segments of the foreign exchange market.
The CBN, in a circular dated June 14, 2023, declared the abolishment of segmentation, collapsing all segments into the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. Notably, applications for medicals, school fees, BTA/PTA, and SMEs will continue to be processed through deposit money banks.
The reintroduction of the “Willing Buyer, Willing Seller” model at the I&E window is a significant shift in the market dynamics. Transactions in this window will be guided by the extant circular dated April 21, 2017, with all eligible transactions permitted to access foreign exchange.
Additional measures include the proscription of trading limits on oversold FX positions, permission to hedge short positions with OTC futures, and the reintroduction of order-based two-way quotes with a bid-ask spread of N1. All transactions will be cleared by a Central Counter Party (CCP), and an order book will be reintroduced to ensure transparency and seamless execution of trades.
The operational hours for trades have also been specified as 9 a.m to 4 p.m, Nigeria time.
The apex bank emphasized that further guidance on the operational changes would be communicated to authorized dealers and the general public in due course. These changes signal a shift in Nigeria’s FX market operations, indicating a more relaxed control of the Naira and allowing the local currency to float freely.
This move towards a free-floating exchange rate reflects the government’s decision to let market forces determine the external value of the Naira without direct intervention from the central bank, marking a significant development in Nigeria’s economic policies.