Naira Crashes Further, Nears N500/$1, As External Reserves Drop By $.5bn

Again, the value of the Nigerian naira tumbled to a new low on Thursday at the parallel market.

The Nigerian currency declined by N2 to trade at the rate of N495/$1 compared to the N493/$1 it closed on Wednesday.

Data from Aboki FX shows that the last time the currency closed at N495 was on December 1, 2020.

Since the CBN’s implementation of the NAFEX rate, the naira-to-dollar exchange rate has continued to fall in the parallel market, as speculators continue to hoard dollars.

However, the naira rose for the second straight day against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Thursday.

This occurred as foreign currency supply increased by 168.70 percent to $350.65 million, up from $130.50 million the previous day.

According to data from FMDQ securities, the official exchange market Naira closed at N411.00 to the dollar, a 0.12 percent increase compared to N411.50 on Wednesday.

Market participants bid for dollars during trading at N420.25 and N400.00.

Following yesterday’s trade, the spread between the unofficial market and the official market has widened to N84.00.

Meanwhile, a check on the CBN website shows that since the start of May, Nigeria’s external reserves have shed $577.6 million.

External reserves had opened on May 1 at $34.84 billion. The latest data on May 26 shows the reserves now stand at $34.26 billion.

This happened as CBN continues its effort to provide dollars in the official markets to dissuade currency speculators.

Ripples Nigeria can confirm that the CBN credited the accounts of over 5,000 BDC operators on Thursday. Every BDC operator gets at least $10,000 from the apex bank twice a week.