The Nigerian naira yesterday slumped further in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), depreciating to ₦1,537 per US dollar.
Naija News reports that this surpassed the parallel market rate by ₦2 for the first time in recent days.
This is according to official data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which showed that the naira weakened from ₦1,536/$1 on Tuesday to ₦1,537/$1 on Wednesday, indicating a marginal ₦1 loss.
In contrast, the naira recorded notable gains in the parallel market, appreciating to ₦1,535/$1 on Wednesday from ₦1,555/$1 the previous day, an improvement of ₦20.
This divergence has raised fresh questions about the CBN’s ongoing monetary reforms and efforts to stabilise the forex market amid continued dollar scarcity and weak external reserves.
Despite multiple interventions by the apex bank, including clearance of forex backlogs, raising benchmark interest rates to over 26%, and resuming sales to BDCs, the naira has remained volatile.
In other news, the CBN has resolved to maintain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 27.5 per cent, as part of its strategy to consolidate gains in the fight against inflation and stabilise the economy.
Naija News reports that the CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing journalists at the end of the 301st Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja.
According to him, the committee voted unanimously to retain the MPR at 27.5 per cent, while also maintaining the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 50 per cent and for Merchant Banks at 16 per cent. The Liquidity Ratio was also left unchanged at 30 per cent.
Cardoso explained that the decision to hold all key monetary parameters steady was informed by the committee’s cautious approach to managing monetary pressures and ensuring price stability.
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