The Naira depreciated in exchange value at the black market in the early hours of Monday, trading at N731/$1, representing 0.14% drop from N730/$1 it exchanged for last Friday.
Market information also indicated that the Naira also slightly depreciated by 0.29% at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer (P2P) FX market, to trade at N731.94/$1 compared to the N729.8/$1 it traded at the same time on Friday.
Available statistics from monetary the authorities reflected that the Nigerian currency slumped at the I&E official window to its lowest level on Friday, falling by 0.58% to close at N439.17/$1 compared to N436.63/$1 it traded the preceding day.
According to the data, a total of $99.7 million was traded in the forex market on Friday, , indicating a slight decline of 1.03% as against $100.74 million that exchanged hands the previous day’s trading session.
A further analysis of the data showed that Nigeria’s external reserve stood at $38.1 billion last Thursday, representing a decline of 0.03% when compared to $38.11 billion that accrued to the reserve the previous day.
As part of its monetary policy measures to stabilize the Naira exchange rate at the Foreign Exchange (FX) market over the past years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been supplying dollars to FX traders at the official window and until recently, the Bureau De Change (BDC) traders.
The apex bank reported that it injected $3.36 billion into the market in December 2021 and January this year.
Analysts have partly linked the sustained interventions of the CBN in the FX market to the nation’s low foreign reserve, which has been oscillating between $38 billion and $41 billion over the past few months.
Also, the experts linked the worrisome development to other factors, including the changing pattern of foreign trade especially as it relates to the global supply chain in recent months, institutional changes in the economy and structural shifts in production, amongst others.
