CBN moves to stop slide as Naira continues free fall

The Nigerian currency continues its free fall against the US dollar on the black market, as it exchanged at N565 per $1 on Thursday.

Thursday’s rate indicates Naira dropped N3 at the black market when compared to the N562/$1 it traded on Wednesday.

At the same market, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Euro by N3 to close at N648/€1 in contrast to N645/€1 on Wednesday but was steady against the British pound at N760/£1 same rate on Thursday.

At the unofficial market, Data recorded on the FMDQ securities exchange window where forex is officially traded, showed that the naira closed at N412.06 per $1 the same rate it exchanged on Wednesday.

Forex liquidity at the market also was unchanged from Thursday with $175.10 million recorded.

At the end of trade on Thursday the difference between the official and unofficial market rates was pegged at N149.94.

Meanwhile, the central bank is expected to announce measures to stem the decline of the naira at the black market.

You may recall that the central bank issued a strong warning to deposit money banks, threatening to revoke their forex operating licenses for a year if they were found to be lacking in foreign exchange operations.