Naira recorded a significant decrease on Tuesday, January 9th, 2024, closing at N1,089.51 per dollar in the official market.
Gatekeepers News reports that this represents a 27.19% drop from the previous closing, raising concerns about the currency’s trajectory in the new year.
The Naira has depreciated for the fourth time and has breached the N1,000/$ threshold, indicating a consistent trend of weakness.
The first time this happened was on Friday, December 8th, 2023, when the currency reached an all-time low of N1,099.05 per dollar. After a brief respite, the currency depreciated again on Thursday, December 28th, 2023, closing at N1,043.09 per dollar.
The third occurrence was on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024 when the local currency closed at N1,035.12 per dollar in the official market.
Similarly, Naira recorded a 27.19% depreciation and closed at N1,089.51 to a dollar at the end of the business day, as per data from the NAFEM, where forex officially trades. This indicates a loss of N232.94 or a 27.19% decline in comparison to the N856.57 it closed at on Monday.
The intraday high was N1251/$1, while the intraday low was N720/$1, representing a N531/$1 spread. Forex turnover at the end of trading was $97.45 million, as per official NAFEM data, which represents a 63.34% increase as compared to the previous day.
However, the parallel forex market, where forex is sold unofficially, reported that the naira closed flat at an exchange rate of N1245/$1, the same as the previous day. Peer-to-peer traders quoted around N1239.45/$1.
The continuous decrease in the value of the Nigerian currency despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria to intervene in the foreign exchange market is causing worry about the potential impact on the economy.
The persistent downward trend may worsen existing inflationary pressures and lead to difficulties for households that depend on imported goods. The implications for businesses, both small and large, are also significant and could result in increased production costs and challenges to maintaining profitability.
