The Nigerian naira yesterday slumped further in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), depreciating to ₦1,537 per US dollar.
This is according to official data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which showed that the naira weakened from ₦1,536/$1 on Tuesday to ₦1,537/$1 on Wednesday, indicating a marginal ₦1 loss.
In contrast, the naira recorded notable gains in the parallel market, appreciating to ₦1,535/$1 on Wednesday from ₦1,555/$1 the previous day, an improvement of ₦20.
This divergence has raised fresh questions about the CBN’s ongoing monetary reforms and efforts to stabilise the forex market amid continued dollar scarcity and weak external reserves.
Despite multiple interventions by the apex bank, including clearance of forex backlogs, raising benchmark interest rates to over 26%, and resuming sales to BDCs, the naira has remained volatile.