Naira Crashes to a New Record Low Against Dollar, See Latest Exchange Rate

 

The naira has suffered a sad setback against the dollar at the parallel market.

 

On Monday the naira lost N5 to close at N550 to dollar.

 

The currency has been under pressure for nearly two weeks, losing significantly at the official and parallel markets due to scarcity of dollars under a very high demand from manufacturers and foreign exchange end users.

 

At the official market, the naira exchanged at N410.51 to dollar.

 

The N139.49 rate disparity between the official and parallel market rates has led to massive hoarding of scarce dollars and abuse of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines on foreign exchange trading.

 

The naira depreciation against global currencies worsened after the CBN stopped dollar sales to bureaux de change (BDCs) and barred Microfinance banks from handling foreign exchange transactions.

 

The fall in the naira rate to this new low has been linked to dollar scarcity and forex speculators hoarding the available greenback to maximise profit.