The Naira depreciated by a whopping 49 per cent year-to-date as the currency of Africa’s largest economy ended 2023 on Friday at N907.11 per US Dollar.
Data from the FMDQ, where the exchange rate trades officially, showed that the Naira appreciated slightly to N907.11 per US Dollar on Fridays from the N1,043/$1 it quoted on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on a year-to-date basis, the exchange rate has depreciated by 49 per cent after opening the year at N461.5/$1.
The Market Turnover during the year under review stood at $26.8 billion, slightly different from the $27 billion recorded in 2022, as most forex trades continued to occur in the parallel market.
In the period under review, the Naira experienced its worst low on December 8th and 28th, when it traded for N1,099.05 and N1,043 per US dollar at the official market, respectively.
Meanwhile, at the parallel market where most forex exchanges take place, the Naira crossed the N1,000 per US dollar threshold on September 29 and ended the year at
N1,215/$1.
At the end of 2023, the disparity between the official and unofficial windows stood at N307.89 despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s effort to unify the exchange rate markets.
Recall that on June 14, 2023, when the apex bank introduced forex unification reforms, the Naira fluctuated in the forex markets, failing to achieve its desired result.
According to CBN’s latest data, the development comes as Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves reached a six-year low of $32.87 billion as of the end of December.
Meanwhile, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, had recently assured Nigerians that the Naira will strengthen in the FX market in 2024.
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