The naira continued its downward spiral in the unofficial market on Wednesday, with Bureau De Change operators in Lagos and Abuja confirming it traded at N1,705 to the U.S. dollar.
According to The PUNCH, a BDC operator in Lagos, Aliyu Sani, disclosed that the dollar was sold for N1,705 and bought at N1,695.
Meanwhile, in Abuja, the exchange rate was slightly lower, as Suraju Ajao, a currency trader, revealed he sold dollars at N1,700 and purchased them at N1,690.
On the official Nigerian Autonomous Forex Exchange Market hosted by FMDQ Securities, the naira closed trading at N1,659.69 per dollar.
This marked a minor 0.04 per cent depreciation from the previous day’s close of N1,658.97 per dollar. Official market data showed the naira trading within a high range of N1,682 per dollar and a low of N1,562.97 per dollar.
In terms of market activity, the daily turnover dropped significantly from Tuesday’s $217.86 million to $177.10 million.
Earlier in the week, the naira experienced another setback when it dropped to N1,700 to the dollar on Monday, representing a 0.29 per cent decline from last Friday’s N1,695 per dollar.
The World Bank has recently identified the naira as one of the most poorly performing currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2024.
As of August, the naira had depreciated by around 43 per cent year-to-date, placing it in the same category as the Ethiopian birr and the South Sudanese pound.
The continued depreciation has been largely driven by rising demand for U.S. dollars in Nigeria’s parallel market, limited inflows of foreign currency, and slow disbursement of foreign exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
