Naira hits record low at official FX market

The naira, on Wednesday, recorded an all-time low of N1,681.45 per dollar at the official foreign exchange (FX) market.

After trading on Wednesday, the naira lost 0.6 percent or N10.13 as the dollar was quoted at N1,681.45/$ as against N1,671.32/$ seen on Tuesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited.

The naira depreciation followed strong demand for the dollar by the end users despite various policy measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to improve supply in the market.

With the current exchange rate, the naira has lost 41.2 percent of its value year-to-date, from N988.46 per dollar at the beginning of the year, data compiled from the FMDQ indicated.

The foreign exchange market turnover declined by 10.05 percent or $21.99 million to $196.78 million on Wednesday from $218.77 recorded on Tuesday at the NAFEM.

According to the FMDQ market summary, the intraday high and low depreciated to close at N1,690/$ and N1,620/$ per dollar on Wednesday.

The local currency steadied at N1,730 on the parallel market, popularly called black market.

With the current exchange rate, the naira has depreciated by 13.9 or N240/$1 from N1,490 per dollar on January 2024 in the black market.