The naira reached a record low of 237 to the dollar on the black market, the traders stated, on Thursday, July 9.
A trader in Lagos, Abubakar Sadiq explained that this was the first time the local currency exchange at this rate against the dollar in the Bureau de Change segment.
He said the sharp drop of the currency was due to the scarcity of the forex in the market and the inability of some importers to source the forex from the banks and the CBN.
In Abuja, the naira exchanged at 234 to the dollar in early hours trading and later increased to 235.
The traders attributed the sharp drop of the local currency to the new policy by CBN that banned the importers of about 41 items in the country including some major food items like rice, fish and other canned foods.
According to Reuters, trading records, at the interbank market, the naira traded at 199.45 at 1210 GMT on Thursday,July 9, near central bank’s pegged rate of 196.95.