Naira Crashes Further Against US Dollar As New Exchange Rate Emerges

The Nigerian naira continued its decline against the dollar, reaching a new low of ₦1,561 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, as reported by the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

This represents a 1.88 percent depreciation from the previous rate of ₦1,532 recorded on July 9.

Throughout the day, the naira experienced significant volatility, trading between a high of ₦1,585 and a low of ₦1,475, highlighting the instability in the foreign exchange market.

This marks the weakest position of the naira since March 18, when it was quoted at ₦1,572 to the dollar.

In the parallel market, the naira also weakened, trading at ₦1,550, down from ₦1,540 on July 9. Bureau de Change (BDC) operators are currently buying at ₦1,530 and selling at ₦1,550, maintaining a profit margin of ₦20.

The depreciation of the naira persists despite a slight increase in Nigeria’s external reserves, which reached $35.05 billion on July 8, the highest since the end of May 2023. However, this increase in reserves has not yet translated into stability for the local currency, which has continued to fluctuate marginally in both the official and parallel markets over the past few days.