The Naira has continued its struggle to gain strength against the US dollar despite recent interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Data from FMDQ revealed that on Wednesday, the Naira depreciated further to N1308.52 per Dollar, compared to N1,300.15 the previous day, marking a significant drop of N8.37.
In the parallel market, the Naira was traded between N1,250 and N1,300 on Wednesday, compared to N1230 on Tuesday. This persistent depreciation is despite the recent injection of $10,000 to Bureau De Change operators by the Central Bank.
The bank had provided the additional funds at a rate of N1,021 to a dollar, with a directive for BDCs to sell at most 1.5 percent above the purchased price. This marks the third intervention in recent times as part of the bank’s efforts to stabilize the Naira.
Despite these efforts, the official exchange rate still exceeds the parallel market rate by N8.52. Aminu Gwadabe, the National President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, attributed the recent depreciation to peer-to-peer cryptocurrency platforms like Binance.
Gwadabe’s statement comes amidst the Naira’s sixth consecutive slump against the Dollar in the foreign exchange market.