The Nigerian naira reached a historic low of N1,534/$ on the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market on Monday.
This marks a significant decline of 3.93 per cent or N58 from the previous closing rate of N1,476.13/$ recorded last Friday, as reported by FMDQ Exchange, the platform responsible for publishing official foreign exchange trading data in the country.
Monday’s official rate represents the weakest official exchange rate since the Central Bank of Nigeria adopted a floating exchange rate regime for the national currency back in June 2023.
Meanwhile, in the parallel market on Monday, the naira was traded within the range of N1,480 to N1,490. Notably, the local currency has seen higher trading figures in the parallel market lately, particularly following the adjustment in the methodology used by FMDQ to calculate the official exchange rate. This adjustment contributed to the depreciation of the naira from above 900/dollar to over 1,400/dollar.
In December, the naira had already surpassed the N1000/$ mark on the official window. On specific dates such as December 8, it plummeted to an all-time low of N1,099.05/$, followed by N1,043.09/$ on December 28, 2023, and N1,035.12/$ on January 3, 2024. Subsequent days also witnessed depreciations, hitting N1,089.51/$ on January 9, and N1,082.32/$ on January 10, 2024. Notably, it reached another all-time low of N1,348.63/$ on January 30, 2024, coinciding with the review of FMDQ’s methodology for calculating the official exchange rate.
Meanwhile, dollar sales by banks decreased by 56.58 per cent to $253.77 million on Friday from the peak of $584.53 million recorded on Monday, the first trading day following the CBN’s directive for banks to sell excess dollars in the official FX market. In total, commercial banks sold $1.97 billion within the week.
Currency traders in Abuja, also known as Bureau De Change operators, reported buying rates for the greenback ranging between N1,480 and N1,490, with selling prices between N1,500 and N1,503, leaving a profit margin of N23.
Mallam Yahu, a BDC operator in Wuse, stated, “We currently buy at rates between N1,480 and N1,490, and sell at N1,500 and N1,503.”
However, another seller, Yahaya Abdul, expressed limitations in buying beyond the rate of N1,460.