BREAKING: Naira Falls At All-Time Low, Hits N1,200 At Parallel Market, N1,099 At Official Window

There is growing frustration over the continued depreciation of the naira against the dollar at the weekend, with the local currency weakening to N1, 099 against the greenback at the official window and N1, 200 at the spot market.

VerseNews understands that President Bola Tinubu had severely criticised former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for, allegedly, running the economy aground and mismanaging foreign exchange.

Tinubu later suspended some of the initiatives in place since Emefiele to stimulate domestic production as well as boost FX earnings. At the inception of the current administration, the naira stood at N462 to the US dollar at the official rate and N758 at the black market.

One of the drastic actions embarked upon by Tinubu on assumption of office was unifying the exchange rate as well as floating the local currency.

By that move, he was believed to have only yielded to pressure from international investors and rating agencies, who had long pressured Emefiele to allow market forces determine the real value of the naira.

Before the floating of the local currency, CBN had adopted a managed-floating regime, where the bank intervened in the market when necessary.

The previous leadership of the apex bank had argued that countries that had free-floated their currencies had stronger export base and were heavily industrialised, and, thus, were able to earn foreign exchange.

However, since the administration of Tinubu floated the naira and unified the exchange rate, the local currency had been under severe pressure with no end in sight at the moment.

The FX market continues to face unprecedented liquidity challenges due to demand pressure amid limited capital inflows.

The implication of the continued depreciation of the naira is increased hardship on Nigerians amid rising inflation, now at 27.33 per cent as of October.

According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive, SD&D Capital Management Limited, Mr. Idakolo Gbolade, the depreciation of the naira will further affect the purchasing power of the people at this period.

Gbolade said, “The continued depreciation of the naira, despite the best efforts of the CBN, calls for concern, especially at this yuletide period, where consumer spending is expected to increase.

“The depreciation of the naira will definitely affect the purchasing power of the people at this period.

“The government should come up with temporary measures to stem rising cost of food products so that people can celebrate the festive season with some happiness.”

Other analysts attribute the weakening to currency speculators and hoarders.