Naira falls to 330 in less than 24 hours

The naira has taken a further plunge at the interbank market on Friday, to trade at 330 against the dollar, losing over N20 to the foreign currency in less than 48 hours.

The local currency, which sank to a record low of 310 to the greenback on Thursday, closed below 300, following trading with the foreign exchange market.

According to Reuters, the naira slipped to 298.50 per dollar on thin volumes at market open and extended losses to trade a total volume of $26.97 million on Friday afternoon in Lagos.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened in the market to stem the slide of the naira, taking bids from primary dealers, in order to shove the naira back up.

The Economist, a London-based newspaper, said on Thursday, that the CBN’s defence of the naira has been disastrous, adding that the parallel market “is surely a more accurate representation of the naira’s worth”.

“The central bank’s policy of defending the naira has been disastrous, creating shortages of products such as milk and fuel and bringing factories to a standstill for want of imported inputs,” The Economist said.

“The economy contracted by 0.4% in the first quarter of this year thanks to cheap oil and monetary mismanagement. The IMF expects GDP to shrink 1.8% this year.”

Parallel market rates jumped to 379 against the dollar on Friday evening, while the pound went for N500.

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