KOREDE FOGO
As naira suffered another major fall against the foreign exchange as it depreciated to N1,730 per dollar and N2040/£1 at the parallel market respectively.
The naira fell by 8.13 percent from N1,600/$ recorded on February 16, 2024.
Currency traders at the street market quoted the buying price of the dollar at N1,700 and the selling price at N1,730 — leaving a profit margin of N30.
“Customers are demanding for the dollars so much and it is affecting the market,” a black market trader known as Aliyu said.
At the official window, the naira depreciated by 2.65 percent to N1,537.96/$ on February 16 — from N1,498.25 per dollar on February 15.
The parallel market also experienced a significant decline, plummeting to a record low of N2040 per Great Britain Pound (GBP), driven by persistent demand pressures that continue to erode the currency’s value.
This marks a notable decrease of 5.39% or N110 compared to the N1,930 rate recorded the previous day.
This depreciation stands as an unprecedented occurrence, representing the lowest point in the historical performance of the Naira.
Concurrently, black-market exchange rates have continued to witness the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, exacerbated by a substantial surge in inflation, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for January 2024.
The inflation rate surged to 29.90%, indicating a significant rise from the 28.92% recorded in the previous month.
This data reflects a noteworthy uptick in the headline inflation rate for January 2024, with a 0.98% increase compared to December 2023 figures.
These developments persist despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) implementation of several policies aimed at bolstering the supply of foreign exchange (forex).
One of the recent policies was the CBN’s announcement of halting international oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria from immediately remitting 100% of their forex proceeds to their parent companies abroad.
Similarly, the Naira depreciated against dollar in the parallel forex market, where forex is unofficially traded, with the exchange rate quoted at N1,655/$1, reflecting a 3.93% decrease from the N1,590 rate it closed at the previous day.
Additionally, the Naira weakened against the Euro by 4.09%, closing at N1720/EUR1 compared to N1650/EUR1 reported the previous day.