Naira heads to N1,000 per dollar

The rate at which the naira, is depreciating against the dollar shows that it could fall to N1,000/$ before the end of next month, traders said Tuesday.

According to the traders, this is due to shortage of the greenback, with the attendant naira free fall, which intensified after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced plans to redesign the banknotes.

After trading on Tuesday, naira closed at an average rate of N822.5 per dollar at the parallel market across the country. This represents 2.74 percent depreciation compared to N800 closed on Monday.

A breakdown of the exchange rate across the country’s street markets show that the dollar was quoted at N820 in Kano and Festac, Lagos, while it exchanged at N825 in Abuja and Apapa, Lagos.

“It will get to N1,000 before the end of the year, the reason being that there is a lot of fraud and corruption in the system,” said Andrews Elueni, managing director, Flawless Capital Limited .

Speaking with BusinessDay by phone he said, “We have to determine the kind of economy the CBN is running. How can they sell dollars at N443 at the official market, and at the black market, which is the real rate, it is quoted at N822. Who is getting the dollars? What are they doing with it?”

Nigeria’s Central Bank last week announced plans to introduce new banknotes to replace the current N200, N500 and N1,000 Notes with effect from December 15, 2022.