Nigeria’s currency depreciated significantly by 1.24 percent to N409.67k per dollar on Monday from N404.67k on Friday at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window.
The naira weakness followed strong demand as dollar scarcity worsened.
The foreign exchange daily market turnover declined significantly by 242.07 percent to $28.21 million on Monday compared with $96.50 million recorded on Friday, data from the FMDQ revealed.
Currency traders who participated in the market maintained bids at between N390.00k and N422.99k per dollar.
The cost of dollar steadied at N473 and N475 at the parallel market and Bureau De Change (BDCs),respectively.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) directors had advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to unify exchange rates.
The IMF has been mounting pressure on Nigeria to devalue the naira especially when the Fund believes that the domestic currency is overvalued citing the wide premium between the I&E window and the parallel market rates and the huge unmet forex demand.
Nigeria’s external reserves have in the last 11 days declined by 1.75 percent to $35.88 billion as at February 9, 2021 from $36.52 billion as at January 25, 2021, data from FMDQ showed.
