The Nigerian Naira has hit a new all-time low in the parallel market, according to a survey conducted by Vanguard on street traders across the country.
The currency was found to be trading in the range of N1,035 to N1,040, marking a depreciation of N40 or 4.0 per cent from its value two weeks ago.
Street traders reported a buying price for the dollar at N1,025 and a selling price at N1,045, leaving them with a profit margin of N25.
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One trader noted, “The dollar is not readily available. It is scarce.”
In the official investors’ and exporters’ window (I & E), the local currency depreciated by 0.70 per cent to close at N776.80 to the dollar on Wednesday.
Data from FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange revealed that a total of $60.30 million FX transactions were made at the I&E window.
The naira’s poor performance against the dollar has been attributed to liquidity problems. Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell to a two-year low of $33.23 billion at the end of Q3 2023.
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This represents a decline of $5.01 billion YoY and $881.84 million QoQ.
The World Bank recently declared the naira and Angola’s kwanza as the “worst performing currencies” in Africa so far in 2023, with both currencies having depreciated by nearly 40 per cent.