The Nigerian naira lost ground versus the US dollar in the foreign exchange markets midweek, owing to persistent demand pressures and deteriorating cash supplies.
The imbalance in demand and supply pressures has kept the currency rate in the negative for Nigerians, while speculators profit from the expanding disparity between parallel and official values.
According to FMDQ data, the Naira declined by 1.43% at the Investors and Exporters FX market, closing at N776.80 per dollar, down from N765.83 the previous day.
According to channel checks, the Naira traded badly in the parallel market on Wednesday, ending at a fresh low of N1,030 versus the US dollar. The price of crude oil has dropped to roughly $85 per barrel as fears of possible supply disruption from the Middle East started to fade away.
Resultantly, the WTI crude fell below $84 per barrel on Wednesday while the Brent Crude traded slightly above $85 per barrel as Saudi Arabia supports OPEC+ tightening.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) website detail showed that the nation’s gross external reserves stood at $33.221 billion amidst rising FX obligations.
