Confusion Over Official Exchange Rate As CBN Removes N379/$1 From Its Website

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has removed the official exchange rate of N379 per dollar from its website.

The last time it was updated was Monday 10, March.

However, held by Ripples Nigeria on the homepage of FMDQ website, where Naira is officially traded, showed CBN official rate remained at N379 to a dollar.

There have been several reports about plans by the CBN to officially devalue the naira.

In fact, following several reports that Nigeria has adopted a new flexible exchange-rate policy for official transactions, the Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele debunked the reports at the March MPC meeting.

However CBN January economic reports shows Naira exchanged for the dollar at the rate of N381 in its transactions for the month.

Ripples Nigeria understands that since last year the federal government has been under pressure to adopt the flexible exchange market (the I&E window) as part of the condition to grant request for “emergency financial assistance” of $3.4 billion under its Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).

The Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair of the IMF, Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, in a press release revealed that Nigeria was taking steps towards floating the currency (flexible exchange rate as they call it) and unifying the exchange rate.

Since the beginning of 2021, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has devalued Naira three times which it admitted in a statement to Journalist.

“In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from N305/$ to N360/$ and now hovers around N410/$,” Emefiele said.

Already on Friday afternoon, at the investors and exporters window, Naira/dollar is exchanging at N482 and N483 per dollar at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment and the parallel market respectively.