Victor EzejaNigerian naira crashed to almost N1,700 at the official segment of the foreign exchange market after the 64th Independence Day anniversary holiday.
According to the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) data published on the FMDQ Securities and Exchange platform, the naira exchanged N1,669.15 per dollar at the close of trading on Wednesday, 2nd October.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis represents N127.21 or 8.25 per cent loss when compared to Monday’s closing rate of N1,541.94 per dollar.
Monday’s closing rate was a slight depreciation from Friday’s N1,540.78 per dollar.
Also, the NAFEM data indicated a further drop in the dollar supply. Between Friday and Wednesday, the dollar supply decreased by 16.89 percent from $212.31 million to $176.45 million.
Trading at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window on Wednesday, was between N1,699.00/$ and N1,550.00/$.
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Naira has continued to experience volatility in the foreign exchange market despite measures by the Central Bank of Nigeria to save the naira through injection of more dollars into the FX market. Last week Wednesday, the CBN announced sales of $20,000 to each eligible Bureau de Change (BDC) operator at the rate of N1,590 per dollar to boost liquidity at the retail segment of the FX market.
However, the effect was short-lived as the naira after appreciating between Thursday and Friday, slipped on Monday before the latest fall.
Economic experts and analysts have continued to stress the need for synergy of efforts between the fiscal and monetary side to address the twin challenge of high exchange rate and inflation ravaging the economy.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
