ONE WORD

The naira maintained its downward trend against the dollar as it traded for 876/$ at the parallel market on Sunday. Some Bureau de Change operators, who spoke to Newsmen, said the local currency had earlier exchanged to the dollar at 820 a week earlier. Since the unification of the exchange rates in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria in recent weeks, the naira had continued to slide to the dollar, due to liquidity crunch, speculations, and other challenges. Speaking with our correspondent, a BDC operator in Lagos, Alhaji Sanni Abdul, stated, “Naira is currently bought and sold at 850/$ and 876/$. The exchange rate has not been stable for some time now.” Another BDC operator, Alli Ibrahim, said, “Things are getting more expensive. As of Friday, we were buying and selling the naira at 850/$ and 865/$.” Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the foreign exchange market was evidently under pressure as a result of a number of fa