Market News

The naira, Nigeria’s currency on Thursday depreciated further against the dollar at the official foreign exchange (FX), following rising demand by end users amid shortage of the greenback.

After trading on Thursday, the naira closed weaker as the dollar was quoted at N1,459.73 compared to N1,421.06 quoted on Wednesday, at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), according to the data released by the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited.

The dollar supplied by willing buyers and willing sellers declined by 48.78 percent to $84.38 million on Thursday from $164.74 million recorded on Wednesday.

According to the FX market summary, the intraday high closed at N1,465 on Thursday, weaker than N1,440 closed on Wednesday. In the same way, the intraday low depreciated marginally to N1,351 on the same day as against N1,335 quoted on Wednesday.

At the parallel market, popularly called the black market, the naira exchanged steadily with the dollar at N1,440/$1 as dollar scarcity continued in the market.

The directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to adopt a well designed Foreign Exchange (FX) intervention framework to ensure the stability of the currency.

The directors welcomed the removal of foreign exchange market distortions and encouraged the Nigerian authorities to continue improving the functioning of the FX market.

According to the Washington D.C. based Fund, gross international reserves declined in 2023 amid persistent capital outflow pressures. The naira depreciated sharply after the unification of the official foreign exchange windows in June 2023. “Following monetary policy tightening in February and March 2024 and a resumption of FX interventions, the naira has started to stabilize,” the IMF directors said in the concluded Article IV consultation with Nigeria.