The Nigerian naira concluded Wednesday’s trading at N1035.12/$ on the official Investor and Exporter foreign exchange window, marking a 4.72% decrease from its Tuesday closure at N988.46/$, as reported by data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
So far in 2024, the national currency has faced consecutive declines, with Wednesday marking only the third time it closed above N1,000/$ since the removal of the rate cap by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The day saw the naira begin trading at N932.67/$, reaching an intraday high of N1,224/$ and a low of N700/$ before settling at N1035.12/$ at close, with a total forex turnover of $85.68 million.
Despite a $2.25 billion foreign exchange support facility from the African Import-Export Bank recently received by the Federal Government, the naira’s performance remains under pressure.
The World Bank’s December Nigeria Development Update highlighted the naira’s significant depreciation against the US dollar in both official and parallel markets.
It stressed the need for increased FX volume to achieve stability and suggested measures like monetary policy tightening and facilitating FX flows to enhance market confidence and stability.
