Naira extended losses at the unofficial market on Wednesday to trade at N1,030 per $1.

The Naira depreciated further against the United States dollar at the unofficial market on Wednesday, market data collated from currency dealers in the country revealed.

As at 3:00 p.m. Nigerian time, the local currency is being exchanged at N1,030 per $1 at the Abuja Zone 4 market.

The rate implies a N5.00 depreciation from N1,025 per $1 rate it was exchanged in the previous session on Tuesday.

"We are currently buying at N1,030 per dollar and it may go higher than this because there is no dollar in the market," a Bureau De Change operator who gave his name as Aliyu told PREMIUM TIMES.

The currency dealers who spoke with this medium explained that they are mostly interested in accepting the physical dollar instead of account-to-account transfer due to scarcity of the dollar.

However, data published on FMDQ website revealed that the naira strengthened at the official market on Tuesday.

According to the data, the naira closed at N765.83 per $1 on Tuesday as against N773.54 recorded on Monday.

Over the past four months, the naira has depreciated by over 50 per cent at both the authorised and unauthorised market segments, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced in June that it has collapsed all forex windows into the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window.

The move by the government has further mounted pressure on the local currency as many Nigerians and businesses struggle to access the hard currency for transactions.