Naira woes worsen, crashes by 42% against US dollar at forex market in two days

Naira woes worsened on Tuesday, crashing by 42 per cent against the US dollar in the foreign exchange market in two days.

Data from FMDQ showed that the Naira further plummeted to an all-time low of N1,482.57 per US Dollar on Tuesday from N1,348.63 on Monday.

This represents a 9 per cent or 133.94 loss compared to N1,348.63 recorded at the close of trading on Monday.

Recall that on Monday, January 29 this year, December 8th and 28th last year, the Naira surpassed the N1,000 per US dollar threshold, quoting N1,348.63, N1,099.05 and N1,043.09 per dollar, respectively.

Similarly, the exchange rate depreciated by 1.4 per cent, quoting at N1,470 per US dollar.

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With the latest figure, this is the first time since the floating of the Naira on June 14, 2023, that the official market exchange rate surpassed that of the parallel market by N12.57.

Depreciation comes despite the Central Bank of Nigeria releasing N500 million to the forex market to clear verified forex backlog.

Also, on Tuesday, the apex bank released an additional $64.6 million to clear the forex backlog of foreign airlines.

Earlier, the bank said it injected approximately $2 billion to settle outstanding commitments across the manufacturing, aviation, and petroleum sectors.

However, despite CBN’s forex release, the Naira continued to fall freely against the dollar in the forex market.