The Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS’) exchange rate for imports has increased to N1,441.53 to the US dollar in the last two days, up from the N1,373.64/$1 it opened with on May 1, representing an increase of N61 within 48 hours.
According to the figures on the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) website, the new exchange rate for import duties is higher than the local currency exchange rate at the official market on Thursday when the Naira closed at N1,402.67/$1. At the parallel market, the Naira closed at N1,380 to the USD ostensibly cause of low demand just a day after the Workers Day public holiday,
In the past few weeks, the Naira has sustained depreciation trend in the official and parallel FX markets after showing very strong performance in March when it was rate by Goldman Sachs as the best performing currency globally.
In May, the local currency opened on a sluggish note, depreciating by 0,74% to N1,360/$1 at the official market compared to the value it exchanged for the American greenback on April 30.
In the month of April, analysts expressed concerns over the depreciating value of the local currency in the FX markets, compelling the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) intervention in the parallel market by selling dollars to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators sometimes even below the official market rate.
Analysts believe that the weakening of the Naira could pose a threat to the efforts of the apex bank to stabilize the Naira in the FX market with the attendant negative impact on the current reform initiatives of the Federal Government to boost the performance of the nation’s economy.
