LAGOS, AUGUST 27, 2016 – The naira has attained a fresh all-time low of 412/$1 on Friday, as dollar scarcity bites harder at the parallel market.
Foreign exchange scarcity continued on the parallel market as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) upholds its foreign exchange ban on eight commercial lenders found to have acted in breach the Treasury Single Account (TSA) guidelines.
The official side of the forex market also experienced a depreciation, moving from 305 at the close of business on Thursday to 315 on Friday.
Naira has depreciated by over 40 percent in 2016, following the introduction of the new foreign exchange regime, which seeks to let the naira move according to market forces.
NAIRA NOW UNDERVALUED
Muhammad Sanusi II, emir of Kano and former CBN governor, who spoke in Kano earlier in the week, said the naira had become undervalued but it would firm up with the right policies.
“On a trade and inflation weighted basis, the naira has gone from one of the most overvalued currencies in the world to one that is now undervalued,” Sanusi said.
“A major barrier to bringing capital in from abroad has been removed; a major incentive to take capital out has also been removed.”
The naira also traded at 530, and 454 to the British pound and euro, respectively.
