Naira Slides Further To N486 As Dollar Scarcity Hits Nigeria’s Economy

The naira has lost 0.82 per cent of its value to trade at N486 per dollar at the parallel market.

The currency had over the past seven days traded at N482 against the dollar.

Foreign exchange crunch had last year triggered a devaluation of the currency at the official rate to N379 per dollar from N360 per dollar.

The naira on Tuesday also stumbled on the Investors’ and Exporter’s Window to N410.67 per dollar from N409.50 a dollar.

The pound also gained against the naira on the parallel market to trade N 672 a pound from N670, while the naira fell to N575 against the Euro from N570 traded on Monday.

“The risk appetite for capital inflow is muted by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to net capital outflows to safe haven investments.

“This could lead to increased pressure on the foreign exchange market,” the Central Bank of Nigeria said in a recent report.

For the apex bank, the weak country’s foreign exchange earnings could have an adverse impact on the level of external and fiscal buffers in the economy.

In January 2021, aggregate foreign exchange inflow into the economy was $5.47bn, showing decreases of 67.5 per corresponding month of 2020.