The famous wide disparity between the official and black market rates for foreign exchange is creeping in gradually once again as the Naira fell to N860 per dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday, July 19, representing a N35 increase to the amount traded on Tuesday, July 18.
This was largely driven by a surge in demand for dollar.
It would be recalled that the present administration took a bold step to merge the official and black market rates by floating the naira to be determined by the forces of supply and demand.
The policy was aimed at curbing the dollar scarcity and curtail parallel forex exchange markets.
The policy sent the naira crashing down by 36% on the official market on June 14. The naira went from 477 per US dollar on June 13 to 750 on June 14.
As of June 15, the black market rate stood at 760 per US dollar.
Now, with the Naira closing at N742.9 on Tuesday at the I&E window, the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates is widening once again.
