Nigeria’s naira on Thursday rose to N410 to a U.S dollar at the black market, after the global pandemic of Coronavirus downed oil price to below $35 a barrel.

Foreign exchange users are buying up the dollar to hedge against the potential devaluation of the naira as the price of oil has slumped below $34 per barrel.

Investigations show that the dollar was quoted at N410/$ at Apapa, Lagos, while in the Festac area of the State, it closed at N400/$.

In the long term, the naira depreciates against the US dollar in line with the difference in inflation between the two currencies. Trying to stop the naira from depreciating has proven a forlorn activity, according to Coronation Merchant Bank Limited.

The bank believes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would keep the exchange rate at close to N362.50/$ for most, if not all, of 2020. But the effect the bank said would add pressure on the naira as its fair value slips against the US dollar.