Naira trades at N1,348/$ at official market — highest rate ever

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

NAFEM recorded its highest closing rate after the naira depreciated by 51.21 percent from the N891.90/$ recorded on Friday.

At the parallel section of the FX market, the naira closed at N1,470 against the greenback — a 3.66 percent depreciation from the N1,415/$ recorded on Friday.

Currency traders, also known as Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Lagos, quoted the buying price of the naira at N1,450 and the selling price at N1,470. 

With the current rates, the gap between both FX markets shrank to N121.37 — from N523.1.

On January 29, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had released $500 million to various sectors to address the backlog of verified foreign exchange (FX) transactions.

Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN acting director of the corporate communications department, had said the apex bank is addressing issues affecting the operation of the FX markets.

“As the Governor said, the CBN’s focus is on addressing fundamental issues that have hindered the effective operation of the Nigerian FX markets over the years,” Sidi-Ali said.

The apex bank had, in November 2023, started clearing the FX forwards backlog in banks in a bid to stabilise the naira.

Meanwhile, on January 7, 2024, the bank disbursed  $61.64 million in trapped funds to foreign airlines through various deposit money banks (DMBs).

The apex bank also disclosed that it redeemed almost $2 billion from the backlog of its forward contract obligations.