The naira weakened to 470 against the United States dollar in the parallel market on Friday despite the interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the official window.
The nation’s currency had traded at N465, N466 and N468 against the greenback on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively. But it fell on Friday to its weakest level in more than a month.
According to Bloomberg, the naira closed at 382.10 per dollar on the spot market, where the CBN sells limited amounts of the greenback to importers.
The international news agency reported that the naira had lost all ground it gained after the regulator started weekly interventions, signaling the continuous existence of pent-up demand for the greenback.
The CBN resume sales to licensed Bureau de Change operators in September after the Federal Government opened up international travel following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said last week that the naira would weaken in the parallel market and likely depreciate to 470-475 against the dollar in November and December.
He said with oil prices still under pressure again, the supply of forex into the country would be further limited.
He said the resumption in international flights, trading and manufacturing activities would heighten forex demand pressures.
The PUNCH had reported on Friday that the nation’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to the lowest level in more than two months.
As of November 10, the forex reserves stood at $35.63bn, the lowest since August 24, according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The Punch