Naira falls to N1,740 in parallel market

The Nigerian Naira is now going for N1,740/$1 in the parallel market as at Sunday, October 27

However, the Naira remained stable with minor appreciation in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM, as dealers speculate that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would likely intervene any moment from now to curtail the pressure on exchange rate.

Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM fell to N1,600 per dollar from N1,601.2 per dollar on Thursday , indicating N1.2 appreciation for the naira.

Dealers who spoke to Financial Vanguard at the weekend said they expect the exchange rate to close this month around N1,750/$1 while 2024 may end at over N1,800/$1.

If this trend continues, by end of the year the local currency would have wiped out the gains it made in March this year when it suddenly appreciated massively, climbing down from an all time high rate of N1,820/ $1 in February 2024 to N1,310/ $1 and further down to N1,240/ $1.

However, the appreciation was halted in April and subsequently, depreciation began and sustained till last week.

Year-on-Year, YoY, Naira depreciated in the parallel market by 70.5 percent to N1,705 per dollar at close of third quarter trading on September 30, 2024 from average N1,000/ $1 in September 2023.

Year-to-Date, YtD, it depreciated in the market by 16.7 percent from N1,490/ $1 in January 2024.

The Naira recorded a massive 104% YoY depreciation in the official segment, NAFEM, to N1540.78 per dollar in September 2024 from N755.27 in September 2023. However, YoY NAFEM has recorded just 9.9 percent depreciation to N1600/ $1 last weekend from N1,455.9/ $1 in January 2024.

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