Friday, October 21, 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window settled at 441.67 as of the close of trading activities on Friday. The dollar/naira rate opened trading on a bullish note as the naira exchanged for a dollar at 440.33, which represents a 0.2 percent appreciation from the previous day’s closing price. However, As the intra-day trading progressed, it dropped (0.3 percent) to close at 441.67. The naira has also depreciated by 0.1 percent week-on-week.
An exchange rate of N443.50/$1 was the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N441.67/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as N437/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $68.51 was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period, representing a 37 percent decline from $108.56 million that exchanged hands the previous day.
Parallel Market
Monday, October 24, 2022: The rate at which the naira exchanges for the dollar at the parallel market slid to 755 as of this writing, declining by 1.3 percent from N745/$ for which the naira exchanged with a dollar on Friday of the previous week. Similarly, trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate between the naira and dollar stands at about N760/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from BDC operators in Lagos.
There has been a gross decline in the value of the currency of Africa’s largest economy, and with the exacerbating impact of inflation, the living standards of people across the country have been massively eroded. So far, the naira has depreciated by 33% year-to-date against the dollar.
Foreign Reserves
According to data from the CBN, Nigeria’s gross external reserve, which has been declining since the beginning of the month dropped to $37.76 billion, as of October 19, 2022. It declined by $45.53 million (0.12 percent) from the 37.80 billion recorded as of October 18.
Sidelines
The Ghanaian currency, the cedi, has become the worst-performing currency in the world after losing 45.1 percent of its value to the United States dollar in 2022.
Naira is also part of the currency with a significant depreciation in this year 2022. Experts believe the official exchange rate of the naira is 20 percent above its market value. There are projections that it will adjust to N520/$ by 2023.