The naira fell to the psychologically important threshold of 1 000 per dollar on the parallel market on Tuesday as Nigerian lawmakers prepared to vet Olayemi Michael Cardoso as the new head of the nation’s central bank.
The currency slipped from 990 to 1 000, according to Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer of Forward Marketing Bureau de Change, which compiles data on the informal market in Lagos.
The parallel-market rate is now about 29% weaker than the official exchange rate of 773.78 per dollar. The two rates briefly converged soon after newly elected President Bola Tinubu announced sweeping currency reforms in June, but they’ve diverged steadily since then as dollar supply from the central bank fell short.
Nigeria’s Senate will consider the confirmation of Cardoso and the central bank’s four deputy governors later on Tuesday. They’re all expected to win approval.
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