The Naira depreciated to a new low on Thursday, exchanging for N645 against the U.S. dollar in the parallel market.
Latest foreign exchange (Forex) market data from Aboki Forex, a digital platform that provides daily information on Naira’s exchange rates to foreign currencies to users on both official and unofficial markets, the Naira, which traded for N620 against the dollar on Monday and N630 on Wednesday, exchanged at N645 to the USD Thursday afternoon.
A day earlier, the Naira lost against the dollar at the investors and exporters window, exchanging at N426.58 to a dollar.
Efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), through sundry monetary policy measures, to mitigate the sliding value of the Naira at the forex market, have yet to really translate to major gains due to micro and macroeconomic factors.
For instance, in May this year, the Naira exchanged averagely at N588 against the USD and its sliding value in recent weeks has accentuated the general price level in the economy and consumers are paying higher for goods and services, especially for food items. The inflation rate spiked to 18.60 percent in June.
As part of its efforts to checkmate abuses in the forex market, the CBN on Tuesday threatened to arrest and prosecute Nigerians doing unauthorized movement of funds within and outside the country, claiming that doing so is illegal.
The move has continued to elicit reactions from the public, especially based on social media comments, as commentators appeared to misunderstand the intention of the apex bank.
Consequently, the CBN’s Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Osita Nwasinobi on Wednesday, decried attempts to misrepresent Godwin Emefiele’s caution on electioneering spending by politicians.
The Director stressed that the Governor’s warning was directed at those who plan to convert Naira into foreign currencies for political campaigns and not those who will need it for legitimate transactions.
He expatiated: “The Bank, in line with its mandate, had discretionary powers to prevent persons from conducting unauthorized transactions, the CBN is within its statutory limits to mop up excess liquidity in the vaults of the institutions it regulates.
‘‘Bank customers must not get involved in the unauthorized movement of funds for currency conversion in order not to fall foul of the extant laws of the land”, Nwanisobi added.
Meanwhile, the monetary authorities have continued to maintain that the parallel market does not accurately reflect the exchange rate in the forex market.
