BREAKING: Naira Falls Massively To N439.19/$ As Reserves Decline By $153.59m

The Nigerian official currency, the naira, weakened further as the exchange rate inched near N440 to a United States dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Foreign Exchange (FX) window, even as Nigeria’s FX reserves decreased by $153.59 million last week to $38.10 billion.

BrandNewsDay understands that In the just-concluded week, the Naira depreciated by N2.14 kobo to N439.17 on Friday from N437.03 at the official FX window for investors and exporters.

Data from the CBN website shows that the decline in reserves follows lower inflows from oil exports receipt as Angola overtakes Nigeria as the largest oil exporter in the West African bloc.

In its macroeconomic note, Cowry Asset Management stated that local currency move gradually to another record low of N440 over the need to hedge against naira depreciation following the recent interest rate hike by the CBN plus Nigeria’s low crude oil earnings.

In the parallel market, the exchange rate worsened as investment bankers maintained that the exchange rate will worsen further due to election spending. Already, the market has started seeing higher demand for the greenback, according to currencies traders in Lagos.

Dollar To Naira Black Market Exchange Rate Today Monday, 10 October 2022

The exchange rate weakened to N740 at the parallel market from N735 in the previous week.

“As we draw closer to the election year and with the campaign activities by political parties taking full gear already, it is expected that the demand for the greenback will buoy further weakening of the legal tender”, Cowry Asset said.

At the investors’ and exporters’ FX window, market participants maintained bids between N435 and N450, according to trading data released by analysts.

Analysts expect the Naira to trade relatively calm across all segments of the FX market as the recent decision by OPEC+ gradually permeates the global oil market and tickles Nigeria’s reserves with a positive effect on the local currency.

At the investors and exporters window, total turnover or volume of dollars transacted decreased by 42.5 per cent from the beginning of the week to $325.29 million on Thursday, with trades consummated within the N425.00 – 460.00 band.