Naira falls to N370 per dollar at parallel market

‘Formal sector funded economy by 58.82 per cent in 2015’

The naira again lost value at the parallel market segment to a renewed low of N367 per dollar. The speculation, leading to fall in the value of the naira since last week, has been on the back of assessed delay in the release of the details of a flexible foreign exchange policy.On Monday, the naira ended the day at N357, fell to N361 on Tuesday and lost further yesterday by N6.

However, the currency traded at N199.40 yesterday, remaining within central bank’s pegged rate band on the official interbank market.The Acting President of the Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, according to Reuters, said the demand for the greenback had increased due to growing scarcity, as the uncertainty created by the new policy had caused individuals to start stocking dollars.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday that the informal sector boosted the nation’s economy by 58.82 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2015.

The bureau disclosed this in Abuja during a breakdown of estimated split of formal and informal sector’s gross domestic product data in 2015 made available to journalists.

According to the report, oil sector refining topped the formal sector earning with 100 per cent contribution to the GDP, while the informal sector gave 00.0 per cent contribution.

Also, the formal sector contributed 100 percent to the GDP from the manufacturing sector, while the informal sector gave 00.0 per cent in the same period under review.

While the textile sector added 72.1 per cent to the GDP from the formal sector, the informal sector raised it by 27.9 per cent during the period under review.In the electricity, gas and water supply sectors, the informal sector led, by contributing 100 per cent each to the economy.