Naira plunged to a new low against the United States dollar on Monday on the official market, according to data from the central bank-backed trading platform, FMDQ.
– Key points to note
The currency weakened to a low of 463.50 to the dollar before recovering nominally to 463.30 on Tuesday.
The naira traded at 745 to the dollar in the parallel market.
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Naira has fallen to successive lows across both the official and black markets due to Nigeria’s chronic dollar scarcity. Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell to its lowest in 17 months in the first week of March, touching N36.2 billion, according to central bank’s figures.
Nigeria makes more than 80% of its dollars from crude oil sales, and low oil production amid theft, vandalism and falling investment has seen it crash.
The reserves reached a peak of $62 billion 15 years ago and the current level is lowest since September 2021. It is projected to fall some more before hopefully beginning to rise in the third quarter.
Reflecting the forex shortage problem, the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday reported a huge fall in Nigeria’s foreign direct investment.
The FDI slumped by a third in 2022 compared to a year earlier. It fell by nearly 90% compared to its peak in 2008.
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