The injection of $2.25 billion by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to ease the country’s forex crunch seems to have done little, as the Naira kicked off the official trading year by slumping against the dollar to N988.46/$1, according to data from the official Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window.
This represents an N81.35 loss or a decline of 8.97% by the Naira decline when compared to the N907.11 it closed on Friday, December 29, 2023.
The intraday high recorded was N1130/$1, while the intraday low was N744.50/$1, representing a wide spread of N385.50/$1.
According to data obtained from the official NAFEM window, forex turnover at the close of the trading was $15.38 million, representing an 82.78% decrease compared to the previous day.
Similarly, the Naira depreciated at the parallel forex market where it exchanged at N1,220/$ a 0.41% depreciation when compared to N1,215/$ on the last trading day of December 2023, while peer-to-peer traded at N1,209.75/$ representing 0.89% decline from the N1990/$ on the last trading in December 2023.
The Naira appreciated slightly against the British pound to close at N1,535/£1 as against the N1,545/£1 it traded last Friday representing an appreciation of N10.
The currency, however, shed N15 from the Euro closing at N1,285/€1 compared to the price of N1,270/€1 the previous trading day last year while the Canadian dollar closed flat at N975/CA$1.