Naira weakens further at investors, exporters’ forex window
The naira extended its decline on Monday at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Foreign Exchange Window, falling by 0.59 percent against the dollar.
The local currency fell to 398.50 against the greenback on Monday from 395.50/$1 on Feb. 3, according to FMDQ Group. It closed at N396.17/$1 last Friday.
The naira, however, remained stable at 480/$1 at the parallel market on Monday.
A renowned economist, Mr Bismarck Rewane, said last week that the Nigerian currency was overvalued by 28.79 percent, with further devaluation expected to happen this year.
The naira has been fluctuating in recent months, plunging on Nov. 30 to 500 per dollar at the parallel market, its lowest level in more than three years. It, however, rose to 470/$1 on Jan. 7, 2021, but started falling the next day.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has kept the official exchange rate at N379/$1 since August, when the naira was devalued for the second time. It was first devalued to 360 in March from 306.
Rewane, managing director of Lagos-based Financial Derivatives Company Limited, said the exchange rate pressures would persist at both parallel market and I&E window on increased foreign exchange demand.
