Nigerian Naira rebounded against the United States Dollar on Wednesday both at the official and parallel markets, with the local currency recording a significant gain against the greenback at the black market.
This came as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the final settlements of all valid foreign exchange backlogs, fulfilling a key pledge of the apex bank governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, to process an inherited backlog of $7bn in claims.
Acting CBN Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, who disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, recalled the central bank had recently cleared $1.5bn from the backlogs.
The naira closed trading at 1,410/dollar at the parallel market and N1,492 at the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, on Wednesday, according to data compiled from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
The gain recorded by the naira at the official market represents an appreciation of N68 or 4.5 per cent, from the N1,560/$1 recorded on Tuesday at NAFEM, and a gain of 13.5 per cent or N190 at the parallel market.