The Naira further depreciated in its exchange rate against the US dollar on Friday at the parallel market to trade at an average of N745/$1, representing 0.40% drop compared to the N742/$1 it traded on Thursday.
Information from FX dealers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), also showed that the local currency traded at an average of N935/£1 from the N932/£1 it exchanged at in the preceding day’s trading session.
However, the Naira traded flat in its exchange rate for the Euro, to trade at N810/€1 in the day under review, the same rate it exchanged at on Thursday.
According to data sourced from the cryptocurrency Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Exchange, the local currency, however, depreciated to trade at a minimum of N742.15/$1 on Friday, representing a fall of 0.31% from N739.88/$1 it recorded in the previous trading session.
The Naira opened the market this year at an exchange value of N736/$1 and recorded the highest depreciation rate at N775/$1 on 20th February while its lowest exchange value stood at N730/$1 on 5th January this year.
Over the past few years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been supplying dollars to FX traders at the official window in furtherance of its monetary policy measures to achieve a stable exchange rate for the Naira against other foreign currencies.
Although many financial experts noted that the apex bank’s interventions at the I&E window was affecting the foreign reserves’ accruals but the benefits of the CBN’s monetary policy action on the FX market cannot be over-emphasized in view of the job creation and other value addition parameters.
They also attributed the not very strong foreign reserves position of the country 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, among others.