Naira depreciates by 40% against Dollar in First half of 2024

The Naira depreciated by over 40 percent in the half quarter of 2024 at the foreign exchange market.

The FMDQ data showed that the Naira weakened to N1505.30 per dollar on Friday from between N896.6 and N907.11 it closed on 29th December 2023.

The figure showed that the Naira had continued its instability against other currencies in the last months despite a streak of months of appreciation before depreciation set in mid-April 2024.

The Naira reached its highest peak of N1,665.50 in February 2024 and lowest point in April when it stood at 1,140 and N1,230.61 at the official and parallel foreign exchange markets, respectively.

The development comes on the back of Central Bank or Nigeria policies, including the unification of the FX market, circular on the operation of International Money Transfer Operators, Intervention to Bureau De Change operators, regulation on excess FX to banks, and recently the withdrawal of Price Verification System Portal for importers.

Despite, the policy reforms by the apex bank, the Naira has continued fluctuations against the Dollar and other currencies in the foreign exchange market.

In April 2024, the Naira was adjudged as the best-performing currency, but slipped to worst-performing in May, according to Bloomberg.

This is as Naira closed at N1505.30 and 1515 at the official and parallel foreign exchange market, respectively on Friday.

The development comes despite the increase in Nigeria’s external reserve which stood at $34.07 billion on June 26, 2024