By John Ikani
The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N421.5/$1 at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, depreciating by 0.6% from N419/$1 recorded the previous day.
The naira reached an intraday high of N410.00 and slipped to a low of N444.00 before closing at N421.50 per $1 on Monday.B
This is the second lowest level the naira exchanged officially with the dollar in five months after closing at N422.67 to a dollar on January 5, early this year, and the first time it stretched across the N417.00 and N419.00 and above benchmark it has been trading in the past four months.
Also, the exchange rate against the US dollar depreciated by 0.334% on Tuesday morning at the peer-to-peer market, trading at a minimum of N600/$1 compared to N598/$1 recorded as of the same time the previous day.
Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the parallel market remained stable at N590 to a dollar, although appreciated marginally by 0.17% from N591/$1 as of the previous trading session. This is according to information obtained from BDCs operating in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s external reserve also depreciated by 0.08% on Friday, 13th May 2022 to stand at $39.01 billion, compared to $39.04 billion recorded as of the previous day. The decline in the external reserve is despite the continuous intervention by the Central Bank in the FX market in order to ensure the stability of the local currency.
