Naira hits highest rate ever at official window, trades at N1,348/$1

The naira, on Monday, closed at N1,348.63/$1 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), known as the official window.

This is the highest closing rate ever by the naira which is N456.73 weaker than N891.90 recorded at the close of trading on Friday.

This latest depreciation signifies the sixth time the Naira has crossed the N1,000/$ threshold in the official market, highlighting a persistent trend of weakness.

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The first instance occurred on Friday, December 8th, 2023, when the currency reached a historical low of N1,099.05 per dollar.

This was followed by a brief reprieve before a second depreciation on Thursday, December 28th, 2023, closing at N1,043.09 per dollar.  The third time was on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024, when the local currency closed at N1,035.12/$1 in the official market before slumping to N1,089.51/$1 on January 9th, 2024 for the fourth time.

The naira remained in the N1000 threshold on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 as the Nigerian currency appreciated marginally to close at N1, 082.32/$1 before the latest decline on Monday, January 29, 2024 which is the biggest slump by the naira.

The intraday high recorded was N1414.94/$1, while the intraday low was N701/$1, representing a wide spread of N713.94/$1.

Similarly, the naira depreciated at the parallel forex market where forex is sold unofficially, the exchange rate depreciated to N1,450/$1 as against the N1425/$1 it traded the previous day representing a loss of N25, while peer-to-peer traders quoted around N1,466.20/$1.

The naira closed flat against the British Pound at N1,790/£1 same as the previous day’s trading price.

The Canadian dollar also closed flat at N1020/CA$1 same as the previous trading rate.

The naira also slumped against the Euro, trading at N1,540/€1 as against the previous closing price of N1,500/€1 at the last trading day representing a loss of N40.