Business

Naira trades at N1,348/$ at official market — highest rate ever

BY Bunmi Aduloju

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The naira, on Monday, closed at N1,348.63/$ at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), known as the official window.

NAFEM recorded its highest closing rate after the naira depreciated by 51.21 percent from the N891.90/$ recorded on Friday.

At the parallel section of the FX market, the naira closed at N1,470 against the greenback — a 3.66 percent depreciation from the N1,415/$ recorded on Friday.

Currency traders, also known as Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in Lagos, quoted the buying price of the naira at N1,450 and the selling price at N1,470. 

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With the current rates, the gap between both FX markets shrank to N121.37 — from N523.1.

On January 29, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had released $500 million to various sectors to address the backlog of verified foreign exchange (FX) transactions.

Hakama Sidi-Ali, CBN acting director of the corporate communications department, had said the apex bank is addressing issues affecting the operation of the FX markets.

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“As the Governor said, the CBN’s focus is on addressing fundamental issues that have hindered the effective operation of the Nigerian FX markets over the years,” Sidi-Ali said.

The apex bank had, in November 2023, started clearing the FX forwards backlog in banks in a bid to stabilise the naira.

Meanwhile, on January 7, 2024, the bank disbursed  $61.64 million in trapped funds to foreign airlines through various deposit money banks (DMBs).

The apex bank also disclosed that it redeemed almost $2 billion from the backlog of its forward contract obligations.

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