Nigeria's naira firms on parallel market as dollar demand slows

LAGOS: Nigeria's naira firmed sharply to 375 on the parallel market on Monday after importers started to reduce demand for dollars following the president's defiance to devalue the currency hit hard by the fall in global oil prices, one trader said.

The naira firmed 4 percent from Friday's close of 390 to the dollar, while the official interbank rate remained at 199.50 to the dollar at the close of trading on Monday.

Aminu Gwadabe, the head of Nigeria's bureaux de change association, told Reuters that retail currency operators were working to introduce a single quote across the parallel market and maintain a bid-ask spread of 3.5 percent for trades.