Naira Slides Again, Exchanges For 417.51/Dollar

The PUNCH reprots that the naira continued its downward trend as the dollar was sold for N417.51 at the official market on Thursday.

This was contained in data obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria official website showing the exchange rate result and its Monthly Moving Average on Thursday.

According to the data, the dollar sold for N417.51 while it was bought at N416.51.

With the development, the naira took a dip in devaluation against the U.S. dollar twenty-four hours after it recorded a slight gain at the spot market segment.

However, the FMDQ website where forex is officially traded, in its own data, showed the local currency closed at N416.67 to a dollar at the close of trade on Thursday.

This represents a N0.3 or 0.10 per cent devaluation from N416.37 it exchanged in the previous session on Wednesday, with $109.75 million recorded as foreign exchange turnover at the close of business on Thursday.

Naira oscillated to an intraday high of N410.00 and a low of N444.00 before closing at N416.67 on Thursday and stood at the same range it has been trading since the opening of business this week.

The last time the currency closed at N416.67 to a dollar was on Tuesday, which is by far the lowest rate the naira has traded at the official market this month.

Meanwhile, the highest rate the local unit has exchanged hands with the greenback currency this month is N415.36 rate per $1 at the spot market segment, according to CBN data on its website.

This meant that the currency strengthened by 4.4 per cent so far after it recorded an all-time low in December last year when the naira closed at N435.00.